WSB-TV, AJC holds Reddit AMA answering your questions about the election

ATLANTA — Georgia is in the political spotlight with the extremely tight gubernatorial race and a number of other races.

Many Georgians have seen ads on TV and online from both sides, and many times, they have been confused on the issues and where the candidates stand.

So Channel 2's Richard Elliot and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein held a Reddit AMA, which stands for "ask me anything." It's essentially a Q&A on Reddit.com.

We look forward to doing more of these special projects on issues that we know that all of you care about. 

Here were the top 5 questions (and answers) that we found most interesting:

Hi guys! I keep hearing this year’s early voting turn out in Georgia is “historic.” Can you give a little more context to that? How does it stack up against other midterm races? How does it compare to turnout in the 2016 presidential election? Thanks!

Answer:

Hey, it's Greg: That's a really important factor in this race. We've already surpassed 1.8 million early votes this cycle - doubling the amount of early votes from the same time four years ago. Some counties have even already surpassed their entire 2014 vote total!

What's important to remember is that surge of voter participation is in Republican stronghold and Democratic bastions. Democrats tend to do better during the early-vote period, but the GOP hopes widespread enthusiasm will cut their margins.

What we definitely know is early voting plays an increasingly crucial role in this race. It accounted for more than half the votes in the 2016 race - and seems set to do so again this year.

Here's more details: https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-early-voting-has-passed-mark-here-what-says-about-the-race-for-governor/fchxQGQwzEWlMvnzppGeHO/

Hi there! What time do you think we will start getting votes on election night? And do you think that more people are going to vote early than on election day?

Also, every election year, we are told by pundits like you guys that there is going to be a runoff. And there always ends up never being one. What makes you guys so sure that there will be one this time?

Hi. This is Richard. I'll answer the second question first. We don't know that there will be a runoff. There hasn't been one in a governor's race before. But looking at the current polling numbers, it shows that there is chance it could happen. Both candidates are essentially tied, and since there's a third candidate, it escalates the possibility of a runoff.

As far as when we'll get election results, who knows? We've had some election nights where the results came back really fast, and other election nights where it was slower than molasses. One factor is the record high number of early votes cast this year. By law, those are not counted until election night...so that might slow things down.

We have multiple crews covering this election from the governor's race on down the ballot. So we'll have those results the moment they come out. Make sure to follow WSB-TV on election night.

Are there any indicators that early voting is favoring Democrats or Republicans?

Answer: 

Hey, it's Greg. I tried to answer that above, the quick response is: It's really hard to read too much into early-voting numbers, but what we've seen is giant turnout from both camps - particularly among voters who skipped the 2014 election. Democrats should still hold the edge in early-voting, but Republicans are confident they're cutting into the margins.

https://politics.myajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-early-voting-has-passed-mark-here-what-says-about-the-race-for-governor/fchxQGQwzEWlMvnzppGeHO/

Which down-ticket elections do you find most interesting & why?

Hi. This is Richard. I think there are two down ballot elections that are interesting. The 6th Congressional District and the Secretary of State's race. There's been a lot of money flowing into the Handel and McBath campaigns. Conventional wisdom has Handel winning, but McBath has run a relentless ad campaign. This race could be a predictor of other races. And the SOS race is surprisingly close. Republican Brad Raffensperger against Democrat John Barrow. Barrow has a long political history in Georgia and he's trying to capitalize on that history in his ads.

Yo, this is Greg: I agree with Richard on the SoS race, which is dead even in Georgia. Barrow was the last white Democrat in the U.S. House in the Deep South, and he's represented a lot of Republican territory over the years as he moved from Athens to Augusta to Savannah. He'll be one to watch.
Also, don't sleep on the 7th District race. Carolyn Bourdeaux is giving incumbent Rep. Brad Woodall a run for his money, and she's trying to boost turnout in Gwinnett County, a once-solid GOP territory that flipped blue in 2016. He's hoping that the Forsyth County part of the district - a deep-red bastion - will be enough to overcome her support.

If I want to buy a mimosa with brunch at 11am, do I vote “yes” or “no” on this: “Shall the governing authority of the City of Roswell be authorized to permit and regulate the sales of distilled spirits for alcoholic beverages for beverage purposes by drink from 11 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.?” Clear as mud.

This is Richard. LOL. That question has come up in the newsroom. Some folks here were confused by the question. If you want to partake of a mimosa before noon on Sunday, I believe you vote "yes" to that question. We'll have the results for each city and county as soon as they come in on WSBTV.com.

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