In the months before the general election, there was hardly a negative ad in the race for secretary of state. In the weeks before the Dec. 4 runoff, the airwaves are filled with them.

Democrat John Barrow and his allies launched a biting 30-second spot highlighting Republican Brad Raffensperger’s tax liens, which state records showed total as much as $130,000. It ends with a plea not to let him “anywhere near your tax dollars.”

A pro-Raffensperger ad, meanwhile, opens with a warning that “our elections are at risk if liberal John Barrow wins” the head-to-head matchup, then asserts the Democrat’s policies would lead to “more illegal voting than ever.”

<myname>!

Tuesday’s Runoff Election is too important for any of us to be silent. We want change -- we deserve change -- so we have to make that change and get out the vote.

Georgians have an opportunity to elect a Secretary of State who will administer fair elections and make sure every vote that is cast is counted and valued. And we can stand up to special interests and elect a Public Service Commissioner who is beholden to the interests of Georgians, not the industries she will be elected to regulate.

The General Election showed us the importance of electing officials that will fight for Georgians. If we remain silent in this runoff, we may face another election where our basic right is suppressed and our voices remain unheard-- and we cannot let that happen.

Bring your friends, family, and neighbors to the polls in this election, because Georgia needs our vote, <myname>. Can we count on you to make a plan to vote early for John Barrow and Lindy Miller?

Vote Early

During the General Election, we brought national awareness to voter suppression and the herculean efforts we must undertake to fight it. Now, we need to return to our polling locations and vote to show the nation that we are even stronger than we were three weeks ago.

We must use the ballot box to make change. As our friend Stacey Abrams says, “Let’s get it done.”

In Solidarity,
John Lewis

With early voting underway in Georgia, Republicans and Democrats continue to battle over a race that could determine the future of the voting process in the state.

Georgia's next secretary of state will be decided in a runoff election on Dec. 4. The race pits former Congressman John Barrow, a Democrat, against Brad Raffensperger, a Republican state representative. Raffensperger finished the Nov. 6 election with 49 percent of the vote, leading Barrow by just 16,278 votes out of 3.8 million cast. The race went to a runoff because neither candidate surpassed 50 percent.

Both the GOP and Democrats have intensified their focus on the secretary of state race because of the key powers the office has in overseeing elections. The office organizes and oversees all electoral activity, including voter registration and municipal, county, state, and federal elections. The next secretary of state will be responsible for protecting voters' rights and replacing the state's 16-year-old electronic voting machines.

The winner will succeed interim Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden, who was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to replace Brian Kemp, a Republican who resigned the post after being elected governor. Voting rights activists criticized Kemp's tenure as secretary of state for overseeing his own gubernatorial election and for his involvement in voter suppression efforts.