美国国家公共电台 NPR--Georgia voters cast ballots in the country's last unresolved U.S. Senate race

Georgia voters cast ballots¹ in the country's last unresolved U.S. Senate race

Transcript²

Voters in Georgia are heading to the polls in the runoff election for a U.S. Senate seat. The race is between Democratic incumbent⁴ Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Early voting is underway in Georgia to decide the country's last unresolved U.S. Senate race.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Incumbent Democrat³ Raphael Warnock is in a runoff with Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the former football star.

MART?NEZ: WABE's Sam Gringlas has been covering the race. He joins us now from Atlanta. Sam, mentioned early voting, starting all over Georgia today. But didn't some counties get started over the weekend?

SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE⁵: Yeah, almost 200,000 people have already voted in this runoff. Georgia's most populous⁶ counties pretty much all opened early voting over the weekend. And at some polling places, lines wrapped around the building. That Saturday voting day - it came about after a legal fight between the state and Democratic groups who disagreed over whether Georgia law allowed it. The Warnock campaign pushed really hard for Saturday voting because the runoff is really quick under Georgia's new voting law. It's just four weeks. Election officials like Dele Lowman Smith in DeKalb County, just outside Atlanta, have also been scrambling⁷ to prep for this runoff while also certifying⁸ the last election.

DELE LOWMAN SMITH: It has been nonstop for our staff and just a very punishing timeline.

GRINGLAS: And early voting - it's going to last through Friday.

MART?NEZ: All right. Now, for those who don't know, this is how it works. In Georgia, runoffs happen when no candidate tops 50% of the vote - so kind of like a midterms in overtime⁹. So have the two candidates, Sam, tweaked their message at all for this final stretch?

GRINGLAS: Well, Raphael Warnock is framing this runoff as a choice about competence¹⁰ and character. Herschel Walker comes with baggage, including allegations of domestic violence. And last month, Walker got 200,000 fewer votes than Republican Governor Brian Kemp did. So Warnock has been explicitly¹¹ appealing to Republican voters who did not vote for Walker.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAPHAEL WARNOCK: Tell your Republican friends, if you want a practical senator, you've got one sitting in the United States Senate right now. And if you send me back to the Senate, I'm going to keep looking for ways to do the work on behalf of all of the people of Georgia.

GRINGLAS: The Walker campaign is trying to focus on President Biden and Democrats¹² in Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HERSCHEL WALKER: We got people in Washington that've gotten too weak. All they want to do is let people ride their bike. That's what Senator Warnock is doing. Let Joe Biden ride his bike 'cause he's voted with him 96% of the time.

GRINGLAS: But Walker's stump¹³ speech usually veers¹⁴ from that message. The last rally that I covered, he spent way more time railing against transgender people in sports and the military than he did talking about inflation.

MART?NEZ: All right. How's that going over?

GRINGLAS: Well, let me introduce you to one voter I met earlier this fall, Cameron Llewellyn (ph). In November, he voted Republican for every race except for Senate. So I called him back last week. And he said he is 100% going back to the polls for Warnock.

CAMERON LLEWELLYN: My vote isn't bound by party alone. It does actually matter what you say because I'm an American first and sort of a Republican second.

GRINGLAS: I checked back in with another couple, independent voters who split their tickets. The husband will vote again for Warnock. The wife is not sure if she'll go back or not. But runoffs can be really unpredictable. The Warnock campaign says they'll knock more doors in this four-week runoff than the last four months of the general. Republicans say they've got 500 staffers on the ground. And all that highlights the priority here, turnout, getting supporters back to the polls and trying to convince voters who stayed home a month ago to vote by December 6.

MART?NEZ: WABE's Sam Gringlas. Sam, thanks.

GRINGLAS: Thanks.

1 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

9 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

10 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

11 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

14 veers   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的第三人称单数 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The car veers out of control. 这辆车失去了控制。 来自辞典例句
• His fondness for his characters sometimes veers towards the sentimental. 他对那位主人公的偏爱有时也稍显矫情。 来自互联网