Georgia election 2022 live updates: Kemp, GOP candidates lead statewide 'red wave'

11:55 p.m. | Warnock to supporters: 'Keep the faith'

Locked in a tight race for the U.S. Senate, Sen. Raphael Warnock told supporters, "Keep the faith and keep looking up."

Warnock, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Herschel Walker were separated by less than 7,000 votes with 87% of precincts reporting. Neither candidate had a majority of the vote, as Libertarian Chase Oliver claiming 2% of ballots cast.

If no candidate reaches the majority threshold - 50% plus one vote - the top two vote getters would go to a runoff to be held on Dec. 6.

"Hang in there; I'm feeling good. I'm with you," Warnock said.

Warnock's speech came just minutes after fellow Democrat Stacey Abrams conceded the Georgia governor's race to Brian Kemp.

11:45 p.m. | GOP sweeps Georgia constitutional officer posts

Republican candidates once again swept state government leadership posts in Tuesday's election, claiming all eight constitutional officer posts.

GOP incumbents Gov. Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr, School Superintendent Richard Woods and Insurance Commissioner John King all won re-election. So did Lt. Gov. candidate Burt Jones, Agriculture Commissioner candidate Tyler Harper and Labor Commissioner candidate Bruce Thompson.

Republicans have held all constitutional offices since the mid-2000s.

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11 p.m. | Reports: Stacey Abrams calls Brian Kemp to concede, earning him re-election

The much-publicized 2018 Georgia governor's re-match has come to an end.

Just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, multiple state and national media report that Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams called Gov. Brian Kemp to offer her concession. As of this posting, Kemp holds 53.8% of the votes versus Abrams' 45.5%.

11 p.m. | Vote counting slow in Georgia Democratic strongholds

Republican candidates running statewide were leading in the vote count across the ballot as primetime transitioned to late night. Few, though, were ready to celebrate.

That's because hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic strongholds remained to be counted. Fulton, Dekalb, Chatham, Gwinnett and Bibb were among those counties with approximately half of precincts still outstanding.

The scenario is similar to the 2020 presidential election and U.S. Senate runoffs, when the count in places such as Dekalb led to significant swings.

As of 11 p.m., xxx million votes had been counted. In the 2018 midterms, 3.93 million Georgians cast ballots. In 2020, 4.99 million votes were cast.

7 p.m. | Polls close

Savannah-area voting locations closed on time, although voters who were at the precincts or in line at 7 p.m. were allowed to cast their ballots. Vote counting was to begin immediately following closure of the polls.

4:45 p.m. | 'Want my vote to count'

At around 4:45 p.m., the sunlight cast a warm glow across the Whitney Industrial Complex on the east side of Savannah.

Francine King shielded her eyes as she walked out of the polling precinct after casting her ballot.

King, a nurse and grandmother, said she comes out to vote every election, and this year is no different.

“I want my vote to count,” said King.

She uses her vote to better the world for her grandchildren. She wants them to get an education and to “have a decent life”. King mentions how rising crime and school shootings across the U.S. are making her worry about the young generation’s future.

“There’s just so much going on,” said King.

1:15 p.m. | Is 'boringness' a word?

With reports of a smooth start to Election Day voting across the state, an official with the Georgia Secretary of State's office offered the following summary at a late Tuesday morning press briefing.

“No drama, boringness. Those are the things we’re looking for today,” said Gabe Sterling, interim deputy secretary of state.

Officials expect approximately 2 million Georgians to cast in-person ballots today. More than 2.5 million voted early or via absentee ballots.

10 a.m. | Texting out the vote

Stacey Abrams' campaign spent the days between the final governor's race debate on Oct. 30 and Election Day focused on turning out voters. Late Monday, she offered a peek behind the curtain of those efforts: She told supporters at a rally in Atlanta the campaign had sent 1.6 million text messages that day.

Abrams' approach was in sharp contrast to that of her opponent, Gov. Brian Kemp. He did a "fly-around" tour of the state on the eve of Election Day, finishing with a pair of rallies in the Atlanta suburbs.

8:45 a.m. | When will we know results?

The question on many voters' minds as they waited in line at the polls early Tuesday was: How soon will be know the results?

Approximately half of the total number of Georgia voters expected to cast ballots in the 2022 midterms did so through early in-person and absentee ballots, with more than 2.5 million tickets turned in as of the end of the early in-person voting on Nov. 4.

Local elections boards were expected to start counting those early votes after Election Day polls opened on Tuesday, and the Georgia Secretary of State's office plans to start posting results in the minutes after the polls close at 7 p.m.

Reporting new results quickly is seen as a way to combat election conspiracy theories, according to Gabe Sterling with the Secretary of State's office. Slow reporting, particularly in heavily Democratic counties, fed the election fraud theories in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. Senate runoff.

Exactly when there will be enough data to call races remains unknown. Close contests are expected up and down the ticket. Elections staff have until the end of the day Wednesday to complete the counting, and the deadline for military and overseas ballots isn't until Monday, Nov. 14. Those who complete provisional ballots have until Nov. 14 to "cure" their ballots by verifying their voter registration data.

7:30 a.m. | Inflation disinformation?

Campaign signs always seem to proliferate even more in the days right before an election. The 11th-hour popups this year? Signs that read simply "Bacon $10.99", a reference to inflation in the grocery store and a condemnation of the political party in power, the Democrats.

A quick run to a Kroger store in Savannah showed the signs to be misleading: A pound of Smithfield bacon is on sale for $4.49 today. So two packages of bacon costs less than $10.99.

Inflation is arguably the most talked-about issue ahead of this election as Republican candidates, Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker in particular, attempt to tie their Democratic rivals to the nation's 8.2% interest rate.

How and where to vote in today's elections

Here's what's required to cast your ballot in today's Georgia midterm general elections:

You must be registered to vote. The deadline to register for this election was Oct. 11.

Voters must show a valid photo ID when voting in person

Go to your assigned polling place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Those in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Sample ballot, polling places

Want to know where to vote and who's on the ballot? You can find sample ballots and polling location on the My Voter Page on the Secretary of State website.

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This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Election Day 2022 in Georgia: Live updates, voting news, updates