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UPDATE: Republicans Win Statewide Runoffs For Secretary Of State, PSC
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12:21 p.m. Republican Brad Raffensperger will be Georgia's next secretary of state and Republican Chuck Eaton will be serving another term on the Public Service Commission.
Democrat John Barrow, the party's nominee for secretary of state, sent an email to supporters Wednesday thanking them. "Though the outcome was not what we had wanted, what we're working for is more important than ever: elections that are as fair and as accurate as they are secure," Barrow wrote.
Democrat Lindy Miller, the party's nominee for Public Service Commission, District 3, made her concession at a noon press conference, mentioning the increased attention the race for Districts 3 and 5 brought to the regulatory body. "Traditionally, the Public Service Commission flies under the radar," Miller said. "In the last 18 months, we have changed that."
Dec. 5 10:40 a.m. Both Democrats in Tuesday's statewide elections are not conceding their races. As of 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, Republican Brad Raffensperger leads Democrat John Barrow by less than 58,000 votes in the secretary of state's race, and incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton leads Democrat Lindy Miller by about 53,000 votes in the race for Public Service Commission, District 3.
Absentee ballots that were postmarked by Tuesday and are received by Friday will be added to the totals.
10:54 p.m. The Associated Press is reporting Brad Raffensperger will be the next secretary of state in Georgia, with 97 percent of precincts reporting.
10 p.m. With 150 counties reporting complete unofficial results to the secretary of state's website, the margins have narrowed for both Republican candidates in the runoff races. Larger metro area counties are still counting votes, and tens of thousands of mail-in absentee, military and overseas ballots could be coming in between now and Friday.
9:24 p.m. Only Clarke and Fulton counties have not reported any votes from the runoff election as of 9:20 p.m. 133 of 159 counties are fully reporting results from early voting and Election Day, with metro Atlanta counties still uploading vote totals.
Raffensperger holds a 17 point lead in the secretary of state's race, and Eaton has a similar margin in the Public Service Commission contest.
8:53 p.m. With 101 of 159 counties reporting, Rep. candidate Raffensperger leads with 61 percent of the vote in the runoff race to become Georgia's next secretary of state.
Results on the secretary of state's website are marked "unofficial" in the days following the election as counties finalize totals and certify their results. Counties have until the Monday after the election to certify their results, and the state has to certify within a week after that.
Absentee mail-in ballots, plus military and overseas ballots can be received until Friday, and any voter who casts a provisional ballot also has until Friday to correct any problems and have their vote counted.
8:32 p.m. Incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton has a sizable lead over Democrat Lindy Miller in the race for Public Service Commission, District 3 with more than a third of Georgia counties reporting. The PSC is responsible for regulating utilities, including the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, which is years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
8:20 p.m. 44 of Georgia’s 159 counties are marked as completely reported in the runoff election.
This does not mean all votes for those counties have been counted – provisional, absentee and some Election Day ballots will still be counted in the coming days.
Most large metropolitan counties including Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb have not yet reported any results.
In Fulton, results may take longer because of an ongoing lawsuit seeking to move the state to paper ballots only for elections. Fulton County elections director Richard Barron told GPB earlier this year his county poll managers would drive in results instead of using modems.
8:07 p.m. With 22 of Georgia's 159 counties reporting, Republican Brad Raffensperger holds a significant lead over Democrat John Barrow in the runoff for the office of Secretary of State.
7:34 p.m. In addition to the 400,000 Georgians who cast their ballot during the early voting period, around 100,000 absentee ballots were mailed out and not yet returned by Election Day.
A settlement reached in federal court last week means those ballots postmarked by today and received by Friday have to be counted.
The death of Former Presdient George H.W. Bush could prove a challenge to that order. President Donald Trump ordered the United States Postal Service to close on Wednesday, Dec. 5 as part of the National Day of Mourning.
7:31 p.m. Most polls have closed across Georgia.
7 a.m. Polls are open across the state in the general runoff election for secretary of state between Democrat John Barrow and Republican Brad Raffensperger, and Public Service Commission, District 3 between incumbent Republican Chuck Eaton and Democrat Lindy Miller, as well as various local elections.
After interim secretary of state Robyn Crittenden reached a settlement agreement with the Democratic Party of Georgia in federal court last week, absentee mail-in ballots that are postmarked by today and received by Friday will be counted.
Check back throughout the day for updates on the races and results.
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