Georgia voters decide Tuesday on Rep. John Lewis's temporary successor

Georgia voters go the polls Tuesday in a special election to temporarily fill the House seat held by Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who died this summer.

The contest features seven candidates competing for the Atlanta-area seat. The winner will hold the seat until the winner of the general election race in November begins the full, two-year term in January.

Five of Tuesday's candidates are Democrats, one is an independent, and one a Libertarian. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on Dec. 1.

None of the special election candidates are on the November ballot.

Lewis, who died in July from pancreatic cancer, had already won his primary for the November election. State Democrats therefore named his replacement, selecting state Sen. Nikema Williams. She will compete against Republican Angela Stanton King in the November election. 

Thus far, about 16,000 special election ballots have been cast in the 630,000-resident district. One candidate called the turnout "super low," due to confusion and misinformation about the special election.