Almost 90 percent of Black women voters in Georgia likely to vote in runoff

By Biba Adams

·December 11, 2020

Tiffani Byron carries her completed ballot to the scanner at Lucky Shoals Park polling station on Election Day last month in Norcross, Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Almost 90 percent of Black women polled in a new survey say they are planning to vote in the Senate runoff race in Georgia less than a month away.

The monumental Jan. 5 election will determine which political party controls the Senate during the administration of recently-chosen President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Tiffani Byron carries her completed ballot to the scanner to vote at the Lucky Shoals Park polling station in Norcross, Georgia on Election Day last month. Next month, Georgia’s runoff race will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

The survey was conducted by HIT Strategies on behalf of Higher Heights for America, an organization committed to increasing Black women’s political power in the U.S.

More than 495 registered Black female voters were polled. More than 83 percent of those who responded said they were “extremely likely” to vote in the runoff, while a little more than 4 percent said they were “somewhat likely.”

Only 3 percent of those polled said they were “not likely” to vote.

The likelihood of voting was nearly 95 percent among Black women over the age of 50.

Glynda Carr, president and chief executive officer of Higher Heights for America, said in a written statement that “Black women know there’s a lot riding on the results of this runoff for Georgia and for the country.”

“In the face of persistent voter suppression and disinformation efforts, however, we can still determine who will win these races just like we did in the presidential election,” she continued. “Black women must have a plan to get the information we need about this election to our communities and a strategy to make sure we all get to the polls early and on January 5.”

Roshni Nedungadi, a Democratic pollster and partner with HIT Strategies, said it is imperative to ensure Black female voters in urban areas like Atlanta are equipped with everything they need to cast their ballots.

January’s runoff election pitting Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue against respective Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will be greatly impacted by Black voters, who were instrumental in flipping Georgia blue for the first time since 1992.

Both of the GOP incumbents got high unfavorability scores during the same survey, with 70 percent for Loeffler and 71 percent for Perdue.

“Democrats cannot flip the Senate without Black women voters,” said Nedungadi, “and there is an urgent need to empower Black women in Georgia with the information they need to vote.”

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