One of the craziest election years in memory gets even busier in Atlanta, as Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday announced that the special election to fill the seat formerly held by the late John Lewis will take place on Tuesday, September 29th.
The special election will decide who holds the 5th Congressional District seat until January, at which point the winner of the general election – on November 3rd, will assume the seat for a full term. It will come on the heels of the August 11th runoffs, which have absentee and early voting going on now.
The race itself looks to be more straightforward than its scheduling, as the Democratic Party of Georgia nominated state Sen. Nikema Williams (D-Atlanta) to replace Lewis on the ballot. Williams, who is also the chair of the state’s Democratic party, received 37 of a possible 41 total votes from party officials, and assuming she wins in September (a safe assumption) will face Republican Angela Stanton-King in the general election. It would also be safe to assume Williams would win that race – Lewis won more than 84 percent of the vote when he last faced a Republican opponent in the highly liberal district in 2016.
But why an extra election at all? Why not just put the special election on the ballot along with the general election on November – as confusing as that may be?
The answer lies in election law, which strictly defines the dates and times in which elections must be held:
This is what the US Code for the Election of Senators and Representatives states for vacancies:
A special election held under this subsection to fill a vacancy shall take place not later than 49 days after the Speaker of the House of Representatives announces that the vacancy exists, unless, during the 75-day period which begins on the date of the announcement of the vacancy—
(A) a regularly scheduled general election for the office involved is to be held;
(B) another special election for the office involved is to be held, pursuant to a writ for a special election issued by the chief executive of the State prior to the date of the announcement of the vacancy.
In layman’s terms, because we are too far (96 days to be exact) from the general election, Kemp was forced to create a new special election date for the race. It likewise could not have been added to the August 11th runoff ballot, because those are already printed with early and absentee voting in full swing.
So there you have it, one more (special) election for 2020 – as if this year couldn’t get any crazier.
