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Georgia Senate elections live updates: Jon Ossoff projected to win Ga. Senate seat
The projected win cements Democrats' control of the Senate.
ABC News projected early Wednesday that Rev. Raphael Warnock will win the race against Kelly Loeffler and on Wednesday afternoon that Jon Ossoff is projected to defeat David Perdue. Together, the two projected wins hand Democrats control of the Senate.
For live updates on the vote totals, click here.
Top headlines:
With final voting underway, Obama reminds Georgians to stay in line
Former President Barack Obama tweeted to Georgia voters that while state polls close at 7 p.m., they should stay in line if they've arrived at their polling location in time.
"You have the right to vote, no matter how long it takes," Obama tweeted.
Some precincts in the state will be open past 7 p.m. due to court orders.
Obama joined a virtual rally for Democratic candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff earlier this month and has appeared in digital ads for both candidates. On Monday, the former president tweeted "the stakes could not be higher" in promoting the runoff elections.
Majority of Georgia voters think presidential election was fair
A majority of voters in Georgia's Senate runoffs think the presidential election was fair, preliminary exit poll results show.
More than half -- 56% -- of voters think the presidential election in Georgia was conducted fairly, while 41% do not, according to the preliminary results.
President-elect Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump by nearly 12,000 votes in Georgia. Trump repeatedly has made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in Georgia, among other states.
Most voters also express at least some confidence in the current runoff elections. Seventy-three percent are very or somewhat confident that votes in the runoffs will be counted accurately, while 26% are not very or not at all confident, according to the preliminary results. This is down from a similar question in November, when 85% were very or somewhat confident that votes in their state would be counted accurately.
-ABC News' Gary Langer, Christine Filer and Steven Sparks
Election official says biggest issue at polls is 'rumors'
Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office, provided an update on the runoff elections, reporting no major issues at this point in the day.
"The biggest thing is we have to deal with is rumors," Sterling said. "Everybody's kind of on edge for some of these things. But in general, it's been steady as she goes."
Sterling said that while there are also reports circulating about turnout, it's impossible for the state to know how many have voted so far Tuesday because the voting systems are not connected to the internet.
"So it's anecdotal evidence that we receive," he said. "If there's not lines, it doesn't mean that there's not a high turnout. It just means they're processing people."
Sterling predicted Tuesday's turnout could be as low as 600,000 or as high as 1.1 million, stressing, "We just have no way of knowing."
The maximum number of absentee ballots outstanding, he said, is 306,855. Sterling later tweeted a correction to the maximum number of potential outstanding absentee ballots, saying the correct number is 229,357. These are due by 7 p.m. when most polls close across the state.
Sterling said the public will know about the biggest bulk of votes Tuesday night, but it's unclear when final results will be known.
"We're gonna start getting results tonight. We're gonna get the biggest bulk of them, like we did last time, it depends on the margin," he said. "If I'm a betting person, which I'm not, I would say it's gonna be a couple of days, because I anticipate it will be a close race one way or the other."
-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan
Preliminary exit poll results show similar turnout among Black voters as in general election
Turnout among partisan groups is central to the outcome of the two runoff races in Georgia. In addition to Black and other racial and ethnic minority voters, another group to watch is evangelical white Christians, core Republicans.
Black voters appeared to hold on to their share of the state's electorate, according to preliminary exit poll results.
Black people -- a core Democratic group -- account for 29% of voters in these preliminary results, compared with 28% in November.
Evangelical white Christians account for 34% of runoff voters preliminarily, about the same as in November.
In purely partisan terms, Republicans outnumber Democrats by three points in these preliminary results, 39% to 36%.
-ABC News' Gary Langer, Christine Filer and Steven Sparks
Warnock reflects on historic win as an 'example of the American dream'
Fresh off his projected victory, Warnock stopped by ABC News’ “The View” on Wednesday to discuss his historic win.
“I am delighted and deeply honored that the people of Georgia have chosen me to represent them in the United States Senate,” Warnock said. “I know that these are some difficult and dark days, but every now and then God sends us a glimpse of hope and light, I think to encourage us to keep fighting the good fight.”
Warnock spoke directly to those who are struggling right now, saying, “you are looking at an iteration and example of the American dream."
“I grew up in public housing. I'm one of 12 children in my family. I'm number 11 and the first college graduate,” Warnock added.
While ABC News has not projected an Ossoff victory, Warnock said he is confident that when the votes are counted he will prevail.
“I have no doubt that Jon Ossoff will also be a United States senator from the state of Georgia.”
The Ebenezer Baptist Church pastor added he hopes the Senate can be “a force for good.”
Warnock said he has not heard from the Loeffler campaign since his projected victory, but said he hopes to represent all Georgians, even those who did not vote for him.