Georgia's top elections official is urging lawmakers to end general election runoffs, but isn't offering any specific proposals.
Raffensperger said in a statement that Georgia is"one of the only states that always seems to have a runoff" and that the legislature should"consider reforms." Georgia is one of four states that have runoffs in general elections, though only Georgia and Louisiana use them for all races. Nine states hold runoffs in primaries, though the rules vary.
In most states, the candidate who earns the greatest number of votes, even if that is far short of a majority, wins a party primary or general election. But most Southern states require runoffs in primaries, an outgrowth of a time when white supremacist Democrats were the overwhelming majority and sought to consolidate support behind one candidate to prevent splits in general elections that could threaten their rule.
Raffensperger's spokesman said the secretary of state was unavailable for interviews this week and that it is up to lawmakers to decide on any changes. Raffensperger is not proposing altering the requirement for runoffs after party primaries. "As a philosophical point, if you're going to have an elected person represent you, they need to have at least 50 plus 1% of the voters to ratify their elections," Powell said Wednesday.
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