Georgia tallies votes as US Senate control hangs in balance

Jan 06, 20210

Curtis Compton - Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) count

Election workers check in, sort and verify signatures on absentee ballots for the state's U.S. Senate runoff election at the Beauty P. Baldwin Voter Registrations and Elections Building on Tuesday night, Jan. 5, 2021, in Lawrenceville, Ga.

ATLANTA - Georgia officials began counting the final votes of the nation's turbulent 2020 election season on Tuesday night as polls closed in two critical races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and, in turn, the fate of President-elect Joe Biden's legislative agenda.

The two Senate runoff elections are leftovers from the November general election, when none of the candidates hit the 50% threshold. Democrats need to win both races to seize the Senate majority - and, with it, control of the new Congress when Biden takes office in two weeks.

President Donald Trump encouraged his loyalists to turn out in force even as he undermined the integrity of the electoral system by pressing unfounded claims of voter fraud to explain away his own defeat in Georgia.

https://www.startribune.com/georgia-tallies-votes-as-us-senate-control-hangs-in-balance/600006854/