Democracy Counts in Georgia; D.C. in Chaos

Two Democrats who back new federal legislation to protect voting rights and civil rights won their Jan. 5 runoff races in Georgia.

The twin victories put Democrats in control of the legislative agenda when Joe Biden becomes president Jan. 20.

Republican Senators lost to an African-American preacher who gives sermons in the church where Martin Luther King Jr. once stood, and a 33-year-old Jewish man who worked for civil rights icon John Lewis.

The vote was close in both races. As of Wednesday evening, The Washington Post reported that Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Sen. Kelly Loeffler by 73,000 votes, out of more than 4.4 million votes cast; Jon Ossoff ousted Sen. David Purdue by about 35,000 votes.

Clearly, every vote counted, and needed to be counted accurately in our democratic form of government.

But an exit poll released by NBC News showed that voters in the Jan. 5 runoff races had less confidence in the accuracy of the vote count than people who voted in the November General Election.

NBC News Exit Poll: Black, liberal voters boost Warnock to projected Senate win in Georgia

The decline in confidence occurred after President Trump, who lost in November, kept charging that the election was "rigged" and "stolen" from him.

Hours after both Peach State Democrats upset their GOP opponents, attention shifted to Washington, D.C. Both houses of Congress were meeting to confirm Biden's win. But numerous members of the House, joined by 13 Republican Senators, including a just-defeated Georgia Senator, started challenging the Electoral College votes in states that gave Biden his victory.

Debate over the disputed votes was put on hold when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing elected leaders to hide or shelter in place. Hours went by before order was restored, but not before police fired tear gas and shot dead a woman.

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