Georgia came out swinging Monday, as the state appealed a judge's decision to allow early voting in the Walker-Warnock Senate runoff race.
Last week, a state trial court found that a Georgia law preventing early voting on a Saturday immediately after a legal holiday did not apply to runoff elections. The Hill reported that the Georgia attorney general's office has appealed the decision with the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Democrat incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is squaring off against Republican challenger Herschel Walker in the Dec. 6 runoff election, joined the lawsuit brought by Georgia Democrats and the Senate Democrats' campaign division that argued early voting should be permitted on Nov. 26, despite Thanksgiving being two days before.
Nov. 26 is the only possible day for Saturday voting, as early voting must conclude on the Friday immediately before a runoff, according to state law.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, initially said that early voting for the runoff would be an option on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but his office later walked back the statement, which prompted the Democrats' legal action.
"Instead of muddying the water and pressuring counties to ignore Georgia law, Sen. Warnock should be allowing county election officials to continue preparations for the upcoming runoff," Raffensperger told The Hill last week.
When reached by The Hill for comment, a spokesperson for the Senate Democrats' campaign division spotlighted the announcements from five Georgia counties that they will allow early voting on Saturday.
Though currently holding a one-seat advantage, next month's runoff gives Senate Democrats an opportunity to increase their slim majority by one and Republicans the chance to evenly split the chamber.
Neither Walker nor Warnock received enough votes on election day to win the race.
Candidate surrogates have already flocked to Georgia to boost their party's nominee, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joining Walker on the campaign trail and former President Barack Obama due to join Warnock on Dec. 1 for a campaign event.