(ATLANTA)-In accordance with state law, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set in motion the electoral process to succeed the late Congressman John Lewis in the 5th Congressional District.

“As our state mourns the loss of a great Georgian, the law demands that we move quickly to elect the next representative from the 5th Congressional District,” said Raffensperger. “Congressman Lewis played a pivotal role in our nation’s history to ensure access to the ballot box, and voters can honor his legacy by participating in our democracy as they decide who should represent them in Congress. No one can replace John Lewis, but someone must represent the interests of the 5th Congressional District.”

Because Congressman Lewis had already won his party’s nomination for the general election, state law calls for the state executive committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia to appoint a replacement nominee. The party has until 4:30 today to inform the Secretary of State’s Office on whether it intends to do so.Gov. Brian Kemp will call a special election to fill the remainder of Lewis’s current term, which ends in early January.

The writ calling for the special election shall be issued within 10 days from the vacancy and the election must be at least 30 days after that. In federal elections, federal law requires military and overseas ballots to be sent 45 days before the special election.

Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 16 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record primary turnout in 2020, with over 1.1 million absentee by mail voters and over 1.2 million in-person voters utilizing Georgia’s new, secure, paper ballot voting system.