typical november weather. it always bodes well. hopefully for election day turnout. people are prepared, particularly democratic groups have been out talking with voters about situations that may arise at polling places. situations always arise at polling places on any election. there is going to be machines that go down, arguing over people being too close to the polls and things like that. because the hyper-partisan elections nowadays, particularly in elections like this, the concern is that might be elevated tuned emendation -- to intimidation, like you said. there are local police if you

feel intimidated. there are numbers to call, i believe. pennsylvania number i have in my notes. 1-877-868-3732. that is the department of state number with help with any election issues or anything. people are prepared. it has been discussed. hopefully, it does not come to that. host: jd pros, state and political reporter. you can follow his reporting on twitter and follow their reporting it pin live.com. your calls ahead on this election day morning on "washington journal." a look at the headline of the atlanta journal constitution this morning. polls open and high turnout expected in georgia on election day. we are joined next bite senior political reporter for the ajc who has been a guest a number of

times. good morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: early voting and absentee ballot voting is up across the country. what do the numbers tell us for georgia? guest: the numbers tell us early voting is popular in georgia with more than 2.5 million people already casting their ballots here. you can read the tea leaves, both democrats and republicans see signs of optimism for their party's in those early voting turnout numbers. both parties are looking towards strong turnout today, that could well exceed 4 million overall votes and set all sorts of new midterm election records in georgia. host: the key race may not be just of the state but perhaps the country as rafael warnock, the incumbent democrat and crucial work are -- and crucial walker, the republican candidate, --has the ground shifted? is the race as tight as they

were? guest: this has a ways been a tight race. this has never been a convincingly for either of these candidates. even after new allegations came out of herschel walker and new damaging reports, the numbers hardly shifted. we are seeing maybe it slightly shift towards herschel walker in georgia. georgia is one of those states where you need the majority of the vote to win the election. there is a libertarian candidate in this race. right now, there is a significant likelihood there could be a runoff in georgia if none of these candidates get 50%. these two candidates are locked in the high 40's. we could be heading towards a december runoff. host: in the governor's race, brian kemp, the incumbent and stacey abrams, his democratic challenger. how far apart is that race? guest: that one, there is a more clear lead in the polls at

governor kemp has a hefty, even 10 point lead in recent polls in georgia. republicans are confident, but are telling their supporters not to get complacent. to keep going to the polls, keep encouraging their friends and family to vote. democrats say they know the polls are against them. they know they have an uphill battle in georgia. stacey abrams says, a lot of voters who tend to skip midterm elections do not necessarily show up in the polling battle. host: there is clearly going to be some poll numbers, some ticket splitting, some vote splitting in georgia. when you talk to voters in terms of their votes for senate, who they want for governor, what are some reasons you are hearing from voters who are voting a split ticket? guest: you hit the nail on the head. the split ticket trend may be the most important dynamic we see in georgia as polls show a small but significant number of

republicans who are backing kemp are withholding support for walker. republican leaning voters are not voting for herschel walker. we are not talking 20%, we are talking to percent. with dynamics this close, that could be a difference maker. many of them are citing the economy or the reason they are voting for governor kemp. he has highlighted his economic stance on the campaign trail, his decision to open governor -- george's economy early in the pandemic. the republicans who are withholding support from herschel walker, oftentimes echo senator rafael warnock's message which is, he is unfit for office. they are worried about his ability to be u.s. senator in georgia. host: we do not see that often. every now and then, a national focus on who is going to be the next secretary of state.

in this case, it is brown raffensperger. a key role he played in the 2020 election. how does that election look for raffensperger? a three-way waste -- race, correct? guest: there is a possibility for a runoff. he has been ahead of his democratic opponent for pretty much the entire race iterms of polling. double-digit leads. she has cut into his margins lately no one is rulg out. there is a signicant number of democrats who cross party lines duri the priry to vote for raffensperger over his trump backed challenger in that gop primar there is many moderates to democratic leaning voters who want to support raffensperger because he stood up against donald trump in that famous phone call back in january 2021, when the then president demanded raffensperger find enough votes to overturn the election to help

donald trump. host: the legislature was criticized with the election integrity bill. how has that law, a new state law, affected the selection? any change in the ability of voters to cast their vote? guest: we are continuing to see a shift towards early, in person voting. we are not seeing nearly as many mail-in ballots as we did in 2020, in part because it is not a presidential race and in part because the pandemic restrictions are not in place like they were. folks are getting out and about, back to normal in a sense. this is a question we will not able to answer until we get the full voting data. those new restrictions, this new overhaul, the election law primarily involves mail-in ballots. it limits the use of ballot drop boxes.

it tightens the windows for absentee mail-in ballots. there is new requirements for absentee mail-in ballots. there is primarily mail-in voting. we will not know the full picture for a few more weeks. host: one question on the headline in your paper today. extends the deadline in cobb county for absentee voters who were mailed ballots. what is the latest on that? guest: they have until mid-november to turn in their absentee ballots. they were asked been tided -- expedited absentee ballots because there was a technical snafu. about 1000 voters did not get their ballots in time. in this case, it was a case of transparency. the county highlighted this issue and is working to correct it. host: reporting ajc.com. you can follow him on twitter. greg bluestein, the senior

announcer: the latest data comes from the u.s. elections project, a website created by the university of florida. for more on early voting, visit electproject.org. announcer: tonight starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, watch c-span's live election night coverage to see which party will control congress. hear the results as they happen. see victory and concession speeches on c-span, the c-span now free mobile app and at c-span.org. announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including cox. >> homework can be hard.