Video shows long lines on last day of early voting in Georgia

Voters in Georgia stood in long lines on New Year’s Eve, the last day to vote early in the Peach State’s Senate runoffs.

Footage of polling stations posted to social media showed lengthy lines of Georgians snaking around buildings seeking to beat election day traffic amid the coronavirus pandemic ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff. 

Georgia Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will face off against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock respectively. 

LIVE LOOK at the line of people waiting to vote at 730am on NYE — the last day of early voting in Cobb County, Georgia. As a reminder, the states runoff elections will ultimately determine the balance of power in Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/XSSCPUI8Gi

— Priscilla Thompson (@PriscillaWT) December 31, 2020

One woman from Cobb County told NBC reporter Priscilla Thompson she arrived in line to vote at 6:30 a.m. and waited an hour and a half before making it to the ballot box.

Last day of early voting in Cobb County. Line already snaking around polling location as polls open. #Election2020 #runoff #georgia pic.twitter.com/6bZXaaqPU9

— Dave R. Watson + (@daverwatson) December 31, 2020

A line goes around the block as voters wait to cast their ballots at the Smyrna Community Center on the last day of Early voting in Cobb County, in the Georgia Senate runoff race. pic.twitter.com/gF5AxiBlRY

— The Hill (@thehill) December 31, 2020

More than 2.8 million Georgia residents have already voted either by mail or via early voting as of Thursday.

According to the Georgia Elections Division, that number accounts for more than a third of all registered voters in the state.

The runoff elections will determine which party controls the upper chamber in the next Congress. Should Democrats take the Senate, they will have control over the House, Senate and White House as President-elect Joe Biden takes office. 

Biden in November upset President Trump in the Peach State, taking Georgia by a narrow margin. He is the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in more than 20 years.