All eyes are on the southern U.S. state of Georgia right now. There are two important U.S. Senate runoff battles and the stakes are high. The races will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, and go a long way toward determining whether President-elect Joe Biden is able to push through his programs, and measures as the next leader of the United States.

As CGTN’s Sean Callebs reports – Democrats in Georgia bolstered by a big win in November are working hard to get the vote out. 

In Clayton County, about a 30-minute drive from Atlanta, young democrats are motivated, count Hannah Joy Gebresilassie as a new-comer to the world of politics.

She and others, are handing out flyers – encouraging people to go to the polls in an effort to continue the state’s transition from conservative Republican, to more liberal Democratic. 

President-elect Joe Biden became the first Democrat to carry Georgia since 1996.  Now – there are two important runoffs for Senate seats.

A litany of candidate signs covers a wide swath of the Georgia landscape.

Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff, is facing Republican incumbent David Perdue in one race. And in the other, the Reverend Raphael Warnock, a Democrat is in the runoff against sitting Senator, Republican Kelly Loeffler.

In Georgia’s most Democratic county of Dekalb, Dontay Carter is enjoying some time with daddy’s girl - Kyleigh who turns three next month.  He too is a political neophyte who got active in politics just a couple of years ago.

"Everything is at stake, the air that I breathe is at stake," Carter said.

Add up the fallout from the COVID-19 crisis, a souring economy, and high unemployment, and tense race relations, Carter says it’s an equation that should concern everyone.

The final straw for him was violent demonstrations in Atlanta after Minnesota police killed George Floyd by driving a knee into his neck until he stopped breathing.

"It wasn't until I saw one of the young men that I mentor. I saw him live on TV with a brick in his hand, in the middle of this protest," he said.

"I saw the pain in his eyes. I left the comfort of my home to go to the city of Atlanta and I met him down there. I said: I know what you want, I know you are mad. I said, if we really want to get even, we got to bring this pain to the polls."

The response has been overwhelming, from Republicans and Democrats. Both races are running neck and neck. More than three million took the opportunity to vote early, easily setting a new record for a runoff.

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