Georgia voters are about to decide a tight race for US Senate C.

It's the second Senate runoff there in two years, and the state's new voting laws will change how elections are conducted.

I'm Scott Simon.

And I'm David Fokenflick, and this is up first from NPR News.

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A December 6th Georgia runoff will decide the US Senate race between incumbent Democrat Rafael Warnaq and Republican Herschel Walker.

And a much narrower election period picks up in earnest today is nearly two dozen counties.

We'll open their doors after a last minute lawsuit over voting access.

Joining us now is Georgia public broadcasting Stephen Fowler to explain what's ahead.

Good morning Stephen. Good morning.

This is the second time in two years that Georgia voters have decided a US Senate race in a high stakes runoff.

But the election is much earlier than the last time. What's changed since 2020?

So David, Georgia passed a sweeping 98 page voting law that did many things, but one big change led us to this point.

All RONOS are now four weeks after an election instead of nine.

So instead of heading to the polls in early January, voters will have their last opportunity to vote on election day.

Now December 6th.

So because of that, there's been a much tighter window for counties to complete all of their post election processes after the general election and then pivot to get ready for the runoff.

Politically, the stakes are different because Democrats already have control of the US Senate this time.

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