A Surge of New Voters

Nearly 150,000 people have already cast ballots in early voting — nearly three times the early vote in April, when only 193,000 ballots were cast over all. Nearly 40,000 people who have voted early in the runoff did not vote at all in April.

Both campaigns have welcomed the additional voters. But the new voters are far younger, somewhat more diverse, and much less likely ever to have voted in a Democratic or Republican primary than the voters who turned out in April. All of which bodes well for Mr. Ossoff.

Expect a Long Night

Georgia often takes a long time to count its votes, and the April ballot was no exception. The first returns — the early votes of people who cast their ballots at polling places, rather than on paper — will not be conclusive, either.

Those early returns will be more Republican this time, because nearly 50,000 Republican-leaning voters who cast ballots on Election Day in April decided to vote early in the runoff. In addition, many Democratic-leaning in-person voters from April chose to vote by mail in the runoff.

As a result, do not expect meaningful clues to the final result until we learn the votes of people who went to the polls on Tuesday.