Candidates for the two Georgia senators, David Perdue, Jon Ossoff, Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock.

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Sipa photos / 20 Minutes montage

  • Two second rounds of the senatorial elections take place in Georgia on Tuesday.

  • Democrats need the two seats to regain control of the Senate and allow Joe Biden to rule.

  • The candidates are neck and neck according to the polls, and the endless soap opera of the November 3 count should happen again.

Much of Joe Biden's tenure is played out on Tuesday.

Two second rounds of the Senate are underway in Georgia, and Democrats need a clear cut to regain control of the upper house of Congress and allow Joe Biden to rule without running into Republican obstruction.

While the two polls promise to be close, Donald Trump, who still disputes his defeat two months after the presidential election of November 3, and Joe Biden have put all their weight in the battle.

What you need to know about the two ballots

Georgia is one of the rare states to organize a second round (

runoff election

) if none of the candidates reaches 50%, which was the case in November.

The first duel pits the outgoing Republican David Perdue against the young Democrat Jon Ossoff.

The second is a "special election" organized after the resignation of the second Georgian senator at the end of 2019. Republican Kelly Loeffler, who has acted for a year, faces Democrat Raphael Warnock, an African-American pastor who preaches in the former parish of Martin Luther King, Atlanta.

Why the battle promises to be close

On the evening of November 3, the Republicans seemed favorites.

David Perdue notably fell within a hair's breadth (0.27%) of a victory in the first round.

But according to the average of the polls - which had been fairly precise in Georgia in November - the Democrats now have a very slight lead (+1.8 points for Jon Ossoff and +2.1 points for Raphael Warnock).

They campaigned together, relentlessly attacking the outgoing Republican management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They could also profit from the fiasco of the $ 2,000 checks being demanded by Trump, which were blocked by Republicans in the Senate - even though Loeffler and Perdue said they were in favor at the last minute.

Donald Trump's baseless accusations of fraud and calls for a boycott of the poll by conspiratorial Republican lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell could also weigh in.

But despite Joe Biden's victory by just over 11,000 votes, Georgia remains a traditionally Republican state, and the Conservatives have often done better than the Democrats in these

runoffs

.

We may not know the results for several days

In November, it took 10 days for US media to project Joe Biden's victory in Georgia, and nearly three weeks for the results to be certified after two recounts.

The endless drama of the count is set to repeat itself, with more than 3 million Georgians voting early.

And because the predominantly Republican D-Day votes are tallied first, the Conservative candidates are expected to race ahead on Tuesday night, but the gap is expected to narrow overnight and in the coming days with the vote count by correspondence.

With the specter of a new legal standoff in sight to challenge the results before the courts.

Remote duel between Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Donald Trump and Joe Biden both campaigned in Georgia on Monday in an attempt to tip the scales.

Alongside Jon Ossoff, Kamala Harris denounced the "appalling abuse of power" by the US president, who in a phone call asked the Republican election official to "recalculate" the presidential results and "find 11,780 voice ”in his favor.

Why Joe Biden is playing big

At present, Republicans have 50 seats in the Senate, compared with 48 for Democrats.

So who need the two wins in Georgia to come back to 50-50.

In the event of a tie in a vote, Vice President Kamala Harris would be able to provide the deciding voice.

If Republicans retain their majority, they can filibuster the first two years of Biden's tenure.

They could in particular block a new economic recovery plan or one of the many reforms promised by the Democrat (health, immigration, environment, infrastructure, etc.).

The president-elect of the United States, whose victory is expected to be formalized by Congress on Wednesday, could also have difficulty securing members of his government as well as federal judges or the Supreme Court.

In Atlanta, Biden insisted Tuesday: "The power is in your hands (...) One state can change the course not only for the next four years, but for the next generation"

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