Update: The Associated Press said that 98% of the vote has been counted. Sen. Raphael Warnock is at 49.4% and Herschel Walker is at 48.5%. The Associated Press has called the race and both Warnock and Walker will advance to a run-off.
Leading up to Election Day, Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker and Democratic incumbent Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock have been neck and neck in the polls. Recent polls from Marist show that the two candidates are locked in a dead heat — meaning that the election could go either way.
Georgia’s election rules differ from some other states in that a candidate needs to receive 50% of the vote, not just the plurality of the vote in order for them to win. According to FiveThirtyEight, if a candidate doesn’t receive the majority of the vote, they will then face off in a run-off election on Dec. 6.
The New York Times reported that Warnock had previously won his Senate seat in a run-off election in 2021.
In the previous run-off election, NPR reported that Warnock had faced off against Republican candidate Kelly Loeffler in a close race where he won 51% of the vote while Loeffler won 49% of the vote. The Times said that election results are likely to come in more quickly than the last election. During the last election, 95% of the vote was recorded by noon on Wednesday.
In the case of a run-off, according to Georgia’s state government website, anyone who is registered to vote in Georgia can vote in federal, state and local runoff elections.
Polls in Georgia closed at 5 p.m. MST on Nov. 8.