Since the 2020 election, Georgia has come to take on the role of swing state, which is a state that has an equal chance of being won by either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Georgia has seen the highest turnout to early voting this year, and, according to Atlanta News First, polls saw more than 1.5 million people who voted. The competition for the most votes has become a matter of tipping the scales, even with only a small number of votes.
Small yet Impactful
According to Statista, Georgia has had a Republican-majority since 1996. During the 2020 election, it was expected that former President Donald Trump would still hold a strong presence. However, when President Joe Biden won with less than 1% more votes than former President Donald Trump did, Georgia became an important battleground state. The small winning margin showed how just a handful of states could swing the results of an election. According to AP Government and AP World History Teacher Steve Moran, as Trump starts to gain more popularity, the Democrats could potentially lose their foothold in Georgia. He used an example of demographics to further explain how this could happen.
“Democrats in these elections have enjoyed 90-95% of the Black vote,” Mr. Moran explained. “And if they lose just 10% of that, that goes down to 80%. That’s a tiny amount, but in an election that’s this close, that can be all the difference.”
Keeping Tabs on Forsyth County
According to Ballotpedia, the people of Forsyth County have tended to side with the Republican party. However, polls have seen a drastic increase in the number of votes the Democrats are receiving, and it correlates with how fast the county is growing. According to USA Today, the increase in population and several development projects “saw more than 16,000 new Democrats vote in that election, roughly 5,000 more than the margin Biden won the state.”
Through the Eyes of Lambert
Most seniors at Lambert are not eligible to vote; however, those who can are being encouraged to vote and make their voice count. It may seem like the opinion of an individual will not matter against a whole group of people, but, as mentioned earlier, a small number can decide who wins this election. Teachers, like Mr. Moran, try to address student doubts and always try to remind students how important just one vote is.
“That’s one of the things that I try to do is to get across to them that it actually does matter,” Mr. Moran said. “Because it’s sometimes hard to look and go, ‘wow! A hundred million people voted for this person and 90 million people voted for this person. What does my vote matter, right?’”
States like Georgia have small margins for victory, so the impact of every vote can be seen. As Lambert students and Forsyth residents head to the polls, they should keep in mind that every vote counts.
