Part 3: The ‘Swing’ing Peaches of Georgia
Who would have ever thought that Georgia would be on any list of election swing states? Well, until this year, not me … yet here I am, looking into all of Georgia’s personality so I can decide who might win the elections.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was the ONE MILLION NEW RESIDENTS that moved to Georgia, just since 2016. If only half of them vote, it explains why Georgia may be swinging.
In addition to Trump and Biden, there is Libertarian Jo Jorgensen (and a boatload of Independents) at the top of the ballot in Georgia. For the purposes of this project, I am focusing on the candidates that I was aware of, but I was flabbergasted when I looked at who was qualified for each election in Georgia. You might be surprised as well. There is a Libertarian running for almost every office that I feel the need to mention, but there are also many Independents, in some cases.
Georgia‘s political parties are:
In Georgia, individual counties decide when they start and stop counting early ballots, both mail-in and early in-person. However, all voted ballots (early or not) must be received by Election Day, November 3, 2020.
In late 2019, Georgia spent $107 million on Dominion Voting Systems (the old Diebold) for new voting equipment. They still use the touch screen machines and voter cards that are the easiest to hack, but the machines print a paper ballot that is then read by an optical scanner. At least there is a paper trail.
However, it didn’t take long for someone to start the games. In all honesty, I believe the goal is to make us question the validity of our elections. We need to do whatever is necessary to stop it and stay out of elections in other countries as well.
However, it’s better news that Georgia HB 316 established a traditional post-election audit to be put in place as soon as possible but no later than the November 2020 general election, and a risk-limiting audit pilot project in one or more counties by December 31, 2021. The audits are conducted before certification, so any errors can be fixed. If we were to audit this year a bit more than usual, it would give us the confidence we deserve.
Georgia has both U.S. Senate seats on the ballot in 2020. Because I look at things most people don’t, it looks to me like these two Senate Races can possibly determine who wins Georgia for POTUS.
The first Senate contest is between incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue, Democrat Jon Ossof, and Republican-turned-Libertarian Shane Hazel.
The second race is a special election between two Republicans, a Democrat, and Brian Slowinski (L) , who is a retired real estate developer and ex-Columbia County GOP Chair. This race will likely end up in a January runoff because of a requirement that the winning candidate must get at least 50 percent of the vote:
“In the election, candidates from all parties are competing on the same ballot. If no candidate earns over 50 pecent of the vote, the special election will go to a January 5, 2021, runoff between the top two highest-performing candidates.”
Kemp reportedly selected Loeffler for the position based on the level of personal wealth she could contribute to her own campaign (she and her husband, Intercontinental Exchange and New York Stock Exchange chairman Jeff Sprecher, are together worth an estimated $500 million), and her potential to win over suburban female voters.
On the Republican side, her main opponent is Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee who served as a staunch and impassioned defender of President Donald Trump during his impeachment hearings.
Collins, who represents a seat in rural Georgia, is seizing on Loeffler’s various controversies to attack her as an out-of-touch multi-millionaire, and recently came after her for having an Andy Warhol print of Chinese communist Mao Zedong in her home.
Collins and Loeffler have also been battling to earn endorsements from various Trumpworld figures. Loeffler was recently endorsed by former acting Director of National Intelligence and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grennell, while Collins picked up the endorsement of Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor who was later charged in the Mueller probe.
The Democratic field includes Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor Raphael Warnock, the frontrunner of the field who was backed early on by the DSCC, the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, educator and entrepreneur Matt Lieberman, and former State Senator Ed Tarver.
There are also eight qualified candidates for the special election in State Senate district SD4: seven Republicans and one Independent.
The Peach State residents will vote on two Constitutional amendments, and a referendum on the ballot this year:
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The first: Authorizes dedication of fees and taxes to their intended purposes by general state law.
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The Second: Waives state and local sovereign immunity for violation of state laws, state and federal constitutions.
The second one is a bit surprising to me as I have never seen a state asking the residents to waive sovereign immunity. If passed, it could prove to be quite expensive for Georgia’s taxpayers if they start suing themselves, but I understand the purpose:
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The referendum: Provides a tax exemption for certain single-family homes owned by tax-exempt charities.
Thirty-nine percent of likely voters say they have cast or plan to cast their ballot at an early voting location, while 31 percent say they plan to vote in person on Election Day, and 30 percent say they have voted or plan to vote by mail or absentee ballot.
ACTIVE VOTERS BY RACE AND GENDER – it wasn’t broken down by party:
AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKAN NATIVE
6879 AI Male
6669 AI Female
33 AI Unknown
13,581
ASIAN OR PACIFIC ISLANDER
83922 AP Male
92082 AP Female
585 AP Unknown
176,589
BLACK NOT HISPANIC
916555 BH Male
1180362 BH Female
3068 BH Unknown
2,099,085
HISPANIC
114151 HP Male
130051 HP Female
545 HP Unknown
244,747
WHITE NOT HISPANIC
1765694 WH Male
1936139 WH Female
4077 WH Unknown
3,705,910
OTHER
57028 OT Male
68978 OT Female
429 OT Unknown
126,435
UNKNOWN
318396 UK Male
311813 UK Female
4872 UK Unknown
635,081
TOTAL ACTIVE REGISTERED VOTERS: 7,002,328
But voters by race and sex alone do not make a complete set of numbers.
So, here is Georgia by the numbers (Census ACS) – 16 Electoral College Votes:
Total population: 10,617,423
636,725 Veterans
51.4% Female
30.7% Bachelor’s Degree or Higher
15.5% under age 65 have no health insurance
13.9% English is a second language
10.1% of residents are foreign-born
32.6% are African American
9.9% are Hispanic or Latino
As with all the states I am looking at, Georgia is seeing record early voting numbers.
From the Secretary of State website, Voting, thus far:
Ballots Cast as of noon on October 24, 2020
Total Number of Ballots Cast: 2,612,313
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast as of noon Today: 55,966
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast: 1,682,604
Total Number of Absentee By Mail Ballots Cast: 929,709
Ballots Cast as of Close of Polls on October 28, 2016
Total Number of Ballots Cast: 1,187,726
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast: 1,064,215
Total Number of Absentee By Mail Ballots Cast: 123,511
And because I had listed 10/22 numbers, I went ahead and posted 10/24 also. I find it interesting to compare the difference two days make.
Ballots Cast as of noon on October 22, 2020:
Total Number of Ballots Cast: 2,416,295
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast as of noon Today: 65,106
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast: 1,524,937
Total Number of Absentee By Mail Ballots Cast: 891,358
Ballots Cast as of Close of Polls on October 27, 2016
Total Number of Ballots Cast: 1,054,959
Total Number of Early, In-Person Ballots Cast: 938,159
Total Number of Absentee By Mail Ballots Cast: 116,764
See also:
