Peach Tree Times

Control of the U.S. Senate has come down to Georgia voters, and companies that voiced opposition to last year’s voting law changes are assessing how they have affected the voting process.

After the Election Integrity Act passed in Georgia in 2021, several companies spoke out against it, including Merck Pharmaceutical Co.

Merck's CEO Kenneth C. Frazier said in a 2021 tweet that the company is committed to “social justice” and the right to vote standing against Georgia’s Election Integrity Law of 2021 in an interview on CNBC. Frazier said “democracy rests on ensuring that every eligible voter has an equal and opportunity to cast a ballot” calling out racism and discrimination in voting laws. 

The company did not respond to requests for comment from Peach Tree Times on the midterm turnout.

Turnout for the Georgia midterm election was 52.7%, higher than the national average of 46.9%, Outkick reported. Georgia's passage of the Election Integrity Act prompted accusations of voter suppression targeting Black people, with President Joe Biden calling the measure "Jim Crow 2.0." The legislation made some changes to existing voting laws, including enhancing ID requirements for absentee voting and regulating drop boxes.

According to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia voters surpassed the 2.5 million mark for early voting. In 2018, Georgia voters cast 1.8 million early ballots and in 2020, 2.6 million early ballots were cast.

“Georgia voters came out in near presidential-level numbers,” Raffensperger said in a press release.

According to the state's voter data, 33.1% of the total number of ballots accepted were submitted by minority voters of Black, Hispanic and Asian demographics. There were 2,537,210 ballots accepted, with 839,032 of those being minority ballots. Black Georgians cast 741,528 ballots, accounting for 29.2% of all accepted ballots in the state.

Analysis of the early voting demographics pointed toward an “older and Blacker” electorate, Georgia Public Broadcasting reported.

This year was the first major election since the state passed overhauled voting regulations in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Critics have argued that those changes, collectively in the Election Integrity Act, were intended to tamp down the influence of minority voters, as well as those with disabilities and the elderly. The changes included adding ID requirements for those voting by mail and an extra Saturday on the early voting schedule, the Georgia Recorder reported.

Georgia’s runoff vote Tuesday between incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker will go a long way to determining how often the Senate will have to turn to Vice President Kamala Harris for a tie-breaking vote over the next two years. Democrats currently hold 48 seats, with two independents who tend to vote with Democrats; Republicans currently have 49 seats, so getting to 50 could result in many 50-50 outcomes that Harris would have to decide.