Top liberals say Democrats should move to Georgia to help Senate candidates win

Some top liberals are suggesting that Democrats move to Georgia so they can vote in the upcoming runoffs to pick two U.S. senators, hoping they can change the outcome of the elections.

"The best thing we could do for Joe is to get him a Democratic Senate," former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang wrote on Twitter. "There should be coordination of resources. Everyone who campaigned for Joe should get ready to head to Georgia. I’ll go. It’s the only way to sideline Mitch and give Joe a unified government," he wrote, referring to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden.

"There isn’t much time,” Yang added. “The earliest date for absentee ballots to be mailed for the runoff is Nov. 18. The registration deadline is Dec. 7. The In-person early voting begins Dec. 14.”

With Republican Dan Sullivan winning the Senate race Alaska on Wednesday, the GOP now hold an edge in the Senate 50-48.

The other two seats are both in Georgia. Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue holds just below 50% of the vote in the state over Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. In the state, winners must top 50% or the race goes into a runoff, set for Jan. 5. Also that day, a special election between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock for the state's other Senate seat will be held.

Yang isn't the only one urging Democrats to move to Georgia. “I hope everyone moves to Georgia in the next month or two, registers to vote, and votes for these two Democratic senators,” New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said in a CNN interview this week.

And abortion-rights activist Tamara Stevens, with the progressive group Handmaids Coalition of Georgia, made a similar plea on Facebook, National Review reported. “Hey all you Northern Democrats! You are all invited to spend the Winter in Georgia!!! Come on down and we will cook for you too!!! Y’allywood…start ramping up productions and get all those West Coast Liberals here too!”

But The Wall Street Journal, citing "experts," said moving to Georgia just to vote in runoff elections might be voter fraud, and a felony.

"A spokesman for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees voter registrations, declined to comment on how quickly someone could establish legal residency in Georgia, but cited state law that it is a felony to vote in Georgia elections if you are not a legal resident or if you are residing in the state briefly with the intention just to vote and then move away," the Journal wrote.

"These are sensitive issues, and election officials are going to pay attention to what is happening,” Enrijeta Shino, a University of North Florida political science professor who has researched voting issues in Georgia, told the paper. “People should be very careful about doing that.”

"People moving to Georgia briefly can work on campaigns and canvass for candidates, but voting in the state without the intention of staying would be considered fraud, she warned," the Journal wrote.