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Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021

Were Georgia’s election-runoff rules conceived to limit Black influence at the polls?

Lisa Freedland, Gigafact Foundry
yes

In 1963, Georgia state representative Denmark Groover proposed “majority-vote runoff rules” for “all local, state, and federal offices” in the state. The rules became law in 1964 as part of broader election-law changes.

Some decades later, Groover himself admitted to being a segregationist and said “some of my political activity was racially motivated.” The runoff legislation at the time was reported to be “a means of circumventing what is called the Negro bloc vote.” Under the runoff system, if white voters split in the general election, they would have the chance to realign behind a single preferred candidate in the runoff.

Groover is also known for promoting 1956 legislation that added the Confederate battle emblem to Georgia's state flag. The design was changed in 2001, with Groover's approval.

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