Getting Closer And Closer To Election Day

In case you hadn’t noticed, the countdown is now less than 100 days until the 2020 general election.

For voters in Georgia there are three big races which will have lasting impacts here and nationally. This is not to imply other races are not important. In reality, all contested races which appear on your ballot are important. It’s just three stand out a little more than the others.

Of course, we all know this is a presidential election year. Polls show a very competitive race for our state’s electoral votes. Some polls show President Trump leading by a handful of points while others have Joe Biden closely in front.

What this tells us is that Georgia is definitely in play in terms of who will win. The presidential race here in recent general elections has been close although still sits in the Republican column.

If Biden should win Georgia (still a big if in my book) then he will probably win the election walking away.

The other key races in Georgia are the two contests for the United States Senate. Republican David Perdue is trying to win re-election for the first time against Democrat Jon Ossoff. Recent news from this race indicated Ossoff is now off the campaign trail after his wife tested positive for COVID-19.

Libertarian Shane Hazel has shown higher-than-normal support in this race for a third party candidate. Hazel would likely poll even higher if more people were able to hear his message.

In the other U.S. Senate race, Georgia voters have to sort through 20 candidates since the contest is a unique setup by way of a jungle primary. All candidates of all parties will be on the same ballot. Primaries were not used to cut the number down because office holder Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the seat, not elected. She has now to win this election to maintain the seat moving forward.

Loeffler still has the power of being the incumbent even though this will be the first time her name is before Georgia voters. With a runoff all but guaranteed, Loeffler is battling for a spot in the top two. Several candidates, both Republican and Democrat, have solid polling numbers, however.

A finish lower than second place by Loeffler would certainly be an embarrassment not only to her but to governor Brian Kemp who handed her this coveted seat. It could also spell trouble for Kemp in his re-election bid in 2022.

Campaigning for the 2020 general election has certainly been different from most. Candidates have had to do much less in-person events and have not been able to win over the support the old- fashioned way.

Certainly, shaking hands and kissing babies have been out of the question.

As a side note to this year’s general election it is worth watching how the early voting process plays out. After something of a fiasco during the primary with absentee ballots, county registrars across the state hopefully are working with state election officials on making things run much smoother this time.

We need to stop the finger pointing game. Georgia’s Secretary of State needs to quit pointing his finger at county officials. It is the Secretary of State’s job to make sure county election officials have the equipment and training necessary for election day.

Likewise, county officials need to relay their concerns early and not them blame the Secretary of State for their missteps.

The integrity of our elections are too important for the state and entire country to have more fiascos. Georgia was somewhat of a political joke the last time we voted. That should be enough of an embarrassment to make sure it doesn’t happen again in November.

Afterall, we ae now less than 100 days away from some very important election outcomes.

Monticello Chris Bridges is a veteran community newspaper who has contributed to The Monticello News since 1988. He welcomes feedback from readers about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.