Columbia and Richmond County awaiting total Senate runoff election results, voters say process was “seamless”

CSRA, Ga. (WJBF) – Voter turnout on Tuesday for Georgia’s runoff elections has been steady. So far, 18,000 people have voted in Richmond County and over 800,000 statewide.

Aside from Georgia’s senate runoff election between Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican candidate Herschel Walker, Richmond County is also having a runoff election for District 2’s Board of Education seat.

Voters NewsChannel 6 spoke to said the process was seamless, and even the ones that didn’t quite meet the age requirement seemed to enjoy it the most.

“I had a great time voting, and I just feel like it’s really fun to actually vote,” said Isaiah Bailey, who helped his mom, Jamie Bailey, fill out her ballot.

Many voters said they didn’t do advance voting due to long lines at polling places. 

“I was going to do advance voting but when I went by it was packed,” said John Wolbert, a Columbia County voter. “So I let it get by me. I voted early last time but didn’t make it this time.”

On election day, they were able to get in and out in under five minutes.

“It was very quick and easy. I went in and everyone was very friendly,” said Dametryiona Lee, a Richmond County voter. “I’m really glad I was able to do my part with the community and come out here and vote.”

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There were only six days of advanced voting for this runoff election, compared to three weeks for the election in 2021.

However, election officials said the numbers from this year matched those from last year.

“We were matching the numbers that we did over a longer period of time in a very short period of time,” said Travis Doss, the executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections.

They won’t know the exact turn-out for Tuesday until later, but they’re optimistic.

We’ll have updates when voter turnout numbers come in.

“The numbers have been steady,” said Nancy Gay, the executive director of the Columbia County Board of Elections. “I mean they had 350 at some of the precincts by 11 o’clock this morning. I was going into this election looking for at least a 20 percent turnout on election day, and I’m hopeful that we’ll get at least that.”

“I think we probably will finish out the day somewhere between 40 to 50 percent, probably around the 45 percent mark,” said Travis Doss.