Two pivotal U.S. Senate runoff elections in the Southern state of Georgia were too close to call Tuesday night.The outcomes of the closely watched contests will determine political control in the Senate during the first two years of President-elect Joe Biden’s term in the White House. But with roughly 80% of the vote counted in the two contests, no one was claiming victory or conceding defeat.Republican Sen. David Perdue, seeking a second six-year term in office, led Democrat Jon Ossoff, a television documentary producer. In the other election, another Republican, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, one of the wealthiest lawmakers in Congress, was ahead of her Democratic challenger, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist minister.The vote counts were fluctuating throughout the evening, with the Democrats faring well when the votes were counted in the state’s major cities and the Republicans making substantial gains in smaller communities and rural areas.At the moment, Republicans control the 100-seat Senate with a 50-48 advantage, needing to win one of the two Georgia contests to maintain their advantage and act as a bulwark against Biden’s legislative proposals after he is inaugurated January 20. WATCH: VOA Reports from GeorgiaSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 4 MB480p | 5 MB540p | 7 MB720p | 11 MB1080p | 24 MBOriginal | 33 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioVictories for Ossoff and Warnock would give Democrats a 50-50 split with Republicans and a chance for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will be able to preside over Senate proceedings when she chooses, to cast tie-breaking votes in the Democrats’ favor.Democrats already narrowly control the House of Representatives, and with Biden set to assume power in two weeks, the party would control the White House and both chambers of Congress if Ossoff and Warnock win.With Democratic control, Biden would likely offer more sweeping proposals to bolster health care in the U.S., tighten environmental controls that were eased during the four-year tenure of President Donald Trump and try to make it easier for immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship.Conversely, Republican control of the Senate would make Biden’s political life more difficult and likely force protracted negotiations between his administration and Republican lawmakers on contentious issues.The controlling party in the chamber also sets the legislative calendar, determining which issues are voted on while also holding a majority on each of the Senate’s issue-specific committees where potential laws are first considered.The Perdue-Ossoff and Loeffler-Warnock contests were made necessary because none of the four candidates won a majority in the first round of voting in November.Voter turnout was robust on Tuesday, with long lines of voters snaking into polling places, and came after nearly 3.1 million people voted before the official Election Day. Five million votes were cast in Georgia in the November balloting that included Biden’s race against Trump.The overall vote count in U.S. runoff elections usually lags behind general elections, but about 100,000 people who did not vote in November in Georgia cast ballots in the Senate runoffs even before the official Election Day. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A voter casts a ballot during Georgia’s Senate runoff elections, in Atlanta, Jan. 5, 2021.That was the scenario that played out in November in Georgia and across the country when substantially more Democrats voted early, while more Republicans voted in person on the actual election day. Because the advance votes take longer to count, Trump appeared to be ahead in Georgia on election night before Biden pulled ahead and won the state. An initial vote count and two recounts confirmed Biden’s narrow edge in the state.Both Biden and Trump held rallies Monday in Georgia in a final attempt to persuade voters.“The power is literally in your hands,” Biden said. “Unlike any time in my career, one state, one state, can chart the course, not just for the next four years, but for the next generation.”He said Georgians had voted in record numbers in the presidential election in November. “Now, we need you to vote again in record numbers,” he said.Trump campaigned Monday in a heavily Republican enclave in Dalton in the northern part of the state, telling supporters the election could be their “last chance to save the America that we love.”“The far left wants to destroy our country, demolish our history and erase everything that we hold dear,” Trump said. “This could be the most important vote you will ever cast for the rest of your life.” Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 4 MB480p | 6 MB540p | 7 MB720p | 14 MB1080p | 32 MBOriginal | 46 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioMonday ralliesBoth Biden and Trump held rallies Monday in Georgia in a final attempt to persuade voters. “The power is literally in your hands,” Biden said. “Unlike any time in my career, one state, one state, can chart the course, not just for the next four years, but for the next generation.” He said Georgians had voted in record numbers in the presidential election in November. “Now, we need you to vote again in record numbers,” he said. Trump campaigned Monday in a heavily Republican enclave in Dalton in the northern part of the state, telling supporters the election could be their “last chance to save the America that we love.” “The far left wants to destroy our country, demolish our history and erase everything that we hold dear,” Trump said. “This could be the most important vote you will ever cast for the rest of your life.”
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