Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker are tied in Georgia’s US Senate runoff with one week left before polling day as Peach Staters continue to turn out in droves during early voting, a new poll shows.
Warnock and Walker each have 50% support in the pivotal election, which will determine whether Democrats win a 51st seat in the upper chamber of Congress, according to the survey released Tuesday by FrederickPolls, COMPETE Digital and AMMPolitical.
The contest was forced to a runoff after neither candidate was able to amass more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 8 general election.
While both candidates have overwhelming support from members of their respective parties, independents favor Warnock by 52% to 48%, the poll found.
The survey also showed that 97% of voters say they are locked in on their choice in the Dec. 6 election.
The high-stakes vote has sent thousands to the polls during the early voting period, which began last week.
More than 500,000 ballots have already been cast as of early Tuesday, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office, with the vast majority turning in their ballots in person.
On Monday, 301,500 Georgians cast ballots, shattering a one-day record for early voting set during the 2016 presidential election.
The last day for early voting is Friday.
The turnout surge belies warnings from Democrats and liberals that a controversial 2021 election reform bill overhauling procedures governing absentee ballots, runoffs, early voting and administrative policies would make it harder for minorities to vote.
Turnout also got a boost from nearly 20 counties offering in-person early voting this past Saturday after the Georgia Supreme Court sided with the Warnock campaign and the Georgia Democratic Party.
The secretary of state’s office had claimed that in-person early voting could not take place on Nov. 26 because the new election law does not allow it on a Saturday following a holiday on the Thursday or Friday. The Democrats successfully argued that the law only applied to primary and general elections, not runoffs.
