ATLANTA — Primary election day in Georgia arrived with short lines and limited problems Tuesday as voters made their voices heard in one of the politically competitive states in the nation.
But there were hiccups at a few voting locations.
Some voters arrived at the polls to find their precincts had been moved to different locations. Others had to wait in line during the initial morning rush. Several voting locations had problems starting voting machines.
Polling places in five counties didn’t open on time Tuesday morning, generally because of difficulties setting up voting equipment, said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Judges could order those precincts in Fulton, Bibb, Chatham and Gilmer counties to stay open a few minutes later to ensure voting opportunities.
“It’s all quiet, and quiet is good. People are showing up to vote and we’re not seeing long lines and people are just pleased with the process,” Raffensperger said. “People know that we have fair and honest elections in Georgia.”
In Fulton County, voting went smoothly at almost all of the county’s 250 polling sites, in part thanks to the 91,000 voters who cast their ballots during three weeks of early voting, said interim elections director Nadine Williams. Two polling places, Hopewell Middle in Milton and Creel Park in South Fulton, opened 20 to 30 minutes late.
Some poll workers were “no-shows,” but the county had staff in reserve, Williams said.
At North Decatur Presbyterian Church, two voting touchscreens weren’t working because of a problem with their batteries, but poll workers said they had enough functioning touchscreens to avoid delays. About 70 voters cast ballots in the first hour of voting.
Dan Richardson, a high school teacher, said he’s more worried about election conspiracy theorists that voting equipment.
“People have inordinate concerns about claims of fraud and voting rigging,” Richardson said after voting. “It’s good that we have a paper backup.”
Another voter, Marcia King, said she needed help from a poll worker to figure out how to print her ballot from the touchscreen.
“This was very easy with no problems at all, and people were there to help,” King said.
At Eastside church in Marietta, voters had to wait 40 minutes in line Tuesday morning. A golf cart brought older voters from a parking lot to the front door, and elderly voters were allowed to go to the front of the line.
Kirkwood resident Michael Wall said it took less than five minutes to vote at his precinct at Israel Baptist Church in DeKalb County.
Wall and his friends had researched the candidates, and he arrived to the polling location with names of his preferred candidate written on a lilac sticky note.
”Everything went pretty smoothly today,” he said.
The primary will determine Republican and Democratic nominees for governor and U.S. Senate, along with closely watched campaigns for secretary of state, Congress, lieutenant governor and other statewide offices.
Polls opened from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at neighborhood precincts across Georgia.
During in-person early voting over the last three weeks, Georgia voters shattered turnout records for a primary.
Over 796,000 cast ballots over the last three weeks — two and a half times higher than the presidential primary two years ago. An additional 71,500 voters have returned absentee ballots as of Monday.
On election day, primary turnout typically approaches 900,000 more voters.
To advance to the general election in November, candidates must win more than 50% of the vote. In races with several candidates, if no one wins a majority, runoffs will be held in four weeks on June 21.
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