>>> Turning now to our "Top
story."
Tuesday is the final day for
voters in Georgia to cast a
ballot and decide the critical
senate race in their state.
1.85 million Georgians have
already voted in this record
setting contest.
Joining us now, Gabriel
sterling, the chief operating
officer in the office of the
Georgia secretary of state.
Hey, thanks for joining us.
I want to start with what we're
seeing now in this early voting.
And just see what you think
about this.
We've seen long lines at some of
the voting places.
Some people are pointing to this
as a sign of voter these.
I can't.
Some Georgians are questioning
why they are spending so much
time in these long lines.
Hours, in some cases.
And I'm wondering, what do you
say to them?
>> A couple things.
You have to compare apples to
apples.
People are looking at the 2021
time line when there was a
nine-week run-off.
The last time, it was the law in
Georgia for I don't know, 100
years, 50 years.
A federal judge in 2013 made it
a nine-week run-off.
Not for voter convenience but
for overseas voters.
The reality is it is the
holidays.
It is hard to get poll workers.
Some had to doesn't back on
hours.
It will probably lead to a
debate on the efficacy of it.
In part because of the lines.
1.852 million.
In 2018, the last time we had a
run-off, we had 1.64 million
people voting altogether in the
entire four weeks.
So we've already blown past
that.
>> So why not change it back to
nine weeks then?
>> Well, because that's not what
the law in Georgia is.
We had a federal judge by fiat,
do that.
I think if you poll Georgians,
nine weeks is way too long.
We don't want nine weeks of TV
commercials going through
Christmas.
So four weeks may be too short
or let's look at what other
states do.
Maybe you don't need a run-off.
Maybe you go to a 45% threshold.
Maybe an instant run-off.
We learn in every election to
make the voting experience
better for Georgians.
>> So let's talk about election
day.
Do you expect an answer Tuesday
night?
Or will this take extra time to
determine the winner?
What are you preparing for?
>> We're preparing for it being
a very tight race.
I anticipate, we may not know
Tuesday night.
It really depends because it is
up to the voters.
And they're showing up in
droves.
1.852 million.
It's obviously at love
enthusiasm.
Of course, we're the only belle
of the ball.
Everyone in America is focussed
on Georgia.
Both Democrats and Republicans
can point to the turnout models
and say that's good for us so
nobody knows what will happen.
>> And you point out, early
voting in this place has set new
state records.
There's data released by your
office and it shows that mail-in
voting plunged by 81% from the
level of the 2011 election.
How much is the new voting law a
factor in that?
What do you think?
>> Personally, apples to apples.
The runoff in 2018, this is the
run-off, we've surpassed the
record for that.
That was a previous record of
84,000.
What else is different between
now and 2020/2021?
There's no covid.
People in Georgia have a
preference to vote in person.
That's a reality.
We've already broken the record
for a mid-term runoff use of
absentee ballots.
Nearly 60% of the people who
requested them have sent them
back in.
I anticipate getting another 40
or 50,000 in the next few
>> I know you're not a doctor,
but did you say there's no
covid?
>> Covid at the end of 2020,
2021 versus now, very different
environments.
>> Okay.
That's fair, that's fair.
Just want to make sure our
viewers didn't hear that, oh, no
more covid, Gabriel starling
says so.
I want to ask you about what
happened today.
Former president Donald Trump,
who recently announced his 2024
candidacy, just called for the
termination of the constitution
to overturn the 2020 election.
Says it should be suspended.
You've been very vocal about
trump and election denialism.
What do you say to this,
Gabriel?
>> I was having a really good,
enjoying my Georgia bulldogs in
the championship, I hadn't seen
that yet.
And it's ridiculous, it's
insane.
To suspend the constitution?
Come on, man.
Seriously?
I mean, you want to be
president, you don't say,
suspend the constitution.
It's this continuous level of
more and more outrageous
comments just to try and keep
the anger alive.
It's just -- it's not helpful.
It's not going to help his
candidacy.
I think it's the wrong direction
to go.
I think more and more
Republicans and Americans are
saying, I'm good, I'm done with
this now, move on to the next
thing.
>> And he's still spewing his
lies about what he says was
election fraud which doesn't
exist.
How is that factoring into the
landscape there with people and
how they're viewing the election
there in Georgia?
>> Frankly, it has had
essentially no impact.
The biggest impact are
occasionally bots on Twitter.
Outside of that, it's not having
real impact at all.
In fact, as you can see,
Herschel is giving him the
Heisman maneuver to say, stay
away from Georgia.
He knows president trump comes,
he tanks his candidacy.
I don't think we're going to --
it's not having any real impact
on the ground in Georgia
anymore.
We saw that with both the
primary wins where all the
trump-endorsed candidates got
spanked.
Not a little bit, but crushed.
Then the general, when all the
Republicans with the exception
of Herschel, who is a
trump-endorsed candidate, won
outright.
This is a fight in the senate
race, every vote is going to
count.