Eternal Vigilance Action Inc. is a conservative-leaning nonprofit that supports adopting instant-runoff voting, a form of ranked-choice voting, in Georgia elections. ¹ Former Georgia state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican, founded the group. ²

Eternal Vigilance Action contends that traditional runoffs, in which a second-round election is held when the leading vote-getter does not receive an absolute majority of votes, require more money to be diverted from government operations to handle absentee ballots, early-voting operations, and election-day operations. The group also contends runoffs after general elections prolong the voting season, which Turner called “election-fatigue.” ³

Background

Eternal Vigilance Action is a right-of-center Georgia-based advocacy group that advocates for ranked choice voting and for more lenient criminal sentencing, among other issues. ^{4 5}

Eternal Vigilance Action hired lobbyists to advocate for ranked-choice voting in the Georgia state legislature. ⁶

The Eternal Vigilance Action board is made up of Republican, Libertarians and Democrats who are former lawmakers, academics and activists. ⁷

Founding

Former Georgia state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican who represented Georgia’s 21^st House district from 2013 to 2021, founded Eternal Vigilance Action and is the executive director. ⁸

While serving in the Georgia state legislature, Turner focused on the issues of civil asset forfeiture, election administration, occupational licensing reform, agriculture, and the intersection of technology and public policy. ⁹

Turner said he was elected in runoff elections and felt the drop off in turnout from the general election made the vote unrepresentative of the public will. He said that instant runoffs, also called ranked-choice voting, saves time and money and ensures the turnout reflects the will of the people. ¹⁰

Turner said Georgia lawmakers should have exhaustion from U.S. Senate runoffs, and that an instant runoff would be “a solution for the pain that we’re all feeling.” ¹²

The Kennesaw State University research also found voter turnout “unequivocally” dropped during most runoffs. The plummeting turnout called into question whether the runoff produce the desired effect of the winner entering office with a majority vote, according to the study. ¹³

Eternal Vigilance Action joined a coalition to launch a new digital ad campaign during the runup to the 2022 Senate runoff campaign that occurred after neither Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock nor his Republican challenger Herschel Walker won 50 percent in the general election. The ad starts by saying, “Imagine being able to enjoy the holidays without being bombarded with negativity.” ¹⁴

Eternal Vigilance Action supported legislation in the 2023 legislative session to allow Georgia municipalities to experiment with instant runoff voting in nonpartisan municipal elections. Turner said if voters were allowed to see ranked-choice voting at the local level, they would determine it is an “easy-to-use system that’s better, cheaper and faster than the expensive, exhausting runoff elections.” ¹⁵

In February 2023, Eternal Vigilance Action joined a coalition letter of groups and individuals from across the political spectrum to support the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act, or EQUAL Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The legislation aimed to eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between offenses involving rock or crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Other groups in the coalition letter supporting the legislation were the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Urban League, Prison Fellowship, and former Trump administration Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. ¹⁶

1. McWhirter, Cameron. “Georgia Unlikely to End General-Election Runoff Law This Year.” The Wall Street Journal. January 9, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-unlikely-to-end-general-election-runoff-law-this-year-11673222823
2.  “Scott Turner.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotturner/
3. McWhirter, Cameron. “Georgia Unlikely to End General-Election Runoff Law This Year.” The Wall Street Journal. January 9, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-unlikely-to-end-general-election-runoff-law-this-year-11673222823
4. McWhirter, Cameron. “Georgia Unlikely to End General-Election Runoff Law This Year.” The Wall Street Journal. January 9, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-unlikely-to-end-general-election-runoff-law-this-year-11673222823
5. Press Release. “Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition Including Senators Book (D-NJ) and Graham (R-SC), Leader Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Armstrong (R-ND) Renew Congressional Effort to Fix Cocaine Sentencing Disparity.” Justice Action Network. February 17, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.justiceactionnetwork.org/news/bipartisan-bicameral-coalition-including-senators-booker-d-nj-and-graham-r-sc-leader-jeffries-d-ny-and-rep-armstrong-r-nd-renew-congressional-effort-to-fix-cocaine-sentencing-disparity
6. McWhirter, Cameron. “Georgia Unlikely to End General-Election Runoff Law This Year.” The Wall Street Journal. January 9, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-unlikely-to-end-general-election-runoff-law-this-year-11673222823
7.  Press Release. “Kennesaw State researchers say new election system may better serve Georgians.” Kennesaw State University. October 31, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/2022/kennesaw-state-researchers-say-new-election-system-may-better-serve-georgians.php
8. “Scott Turner.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotturner/
9. “Scott Turner.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scotturner/
10. Press Release. “Kennesaw State researchers say new election system may better serve Georgians.” Kennesaw State University. October 31, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/2022/kennesaw-state-researchers-say-new-election-system-may-better-serve-georgians.php

12. Research and Advocacy

    In 2022, Eternal Vigilance Action gave a $7,000 grant to help fund research by Kennesaw State University into Georgia’s runoff-election system. The KSU survey data from 59 counties estimated the cost of the 2020 U.S. Senate runoff to be $75 million statewide. These larger expenses are a bigger burden on the lesser populated counties with small budgets, according to the study. Larger counties still have extra expenses from staffing voting locations. ¹¹ Press Release. “Kennesaw State researchers say new election system may better serve Georgians.” Kennesaw State University. October 31, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/2022/kennesaw-state-researchers-say-new-election-system-may-better-serve-georgians.php

13.  Hurt, Emma. “A proposed way out of Georgia’s runoffs.” Axios. November 28, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/11/28/instant-runoff-ballot-proposal-georgia
14. Hurt, Emma. “A proposed way out of Georgia’s runoffs.” Axios. November 28, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/11/28/instant-runoff-ballot-proposal-georgia
15. Williams, Dave. “Instant runoffs voting bill introduced in Georgia House.” Georgia Public Broadcasting. February 3, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.gpb.org/news/2023/02/03/instant-runoffs-voting-bill-introduced-in-georgia-house
16. Press Release. “Bipartisan, Bicameral Coalition Including Senators Book (D-NJ) and Graham (R-SC), Leader Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Armstrong (R-ND) Renew Congressional Effort to Fix Cocaine Sentencing Disparity.” Justice Action Network. February 17, 2023. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.justiceactionnetwork.org/news/bipartisan-bicameral-coalition-including-senators-booker-d-nj-and-graham-r-sc-leader-jeffries-d-ny-and-rep-armstrong-r-nd-renew-congressional-effort-to-fix-cocaine-sentencing-disparity