Today marks the first day of early voting in Georgia, the first major election for the critical state since the signing of the controversial Election Integrity Act, which brought forth new voting restrictions. Within the first few hours of the start of the election day, there were reports of disruption in service from polling places throughout the state, and later in the day voters at some stations saw two-hour lines.
Still, voters and election officials remain optimistic about the midterm elections, which will decide the strongly contested rematch between gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, and which party controls the United States Senate with the election between Senator Raphael Warnock and controversial figure Herschel Walker.
“There are a lot of new learnings and procedures, but they are all working out very smooth,” says Janine Eveler, director of Cobb county elections and registration. “Every legislative session touches election laws in some way, so we’re not unfamiliar with assessing our existing procedures, looking at legislation and then making adjustments.”
While election officials worked to prepare for the start of early voting, technological issues persisted. New Georgia Project, a voting rights organization based in the state, reported that in multiple counties, including two of the largest, DeKalb county and Fulton county, the system used to check-in voters, eNet, went down and extended the wait for voters waiting in line, sometimes occurring numerous times at a single location.
In the past, Georgia voters have experienced hours-long wait times due to similar issues. Voting organizations and election officials throughout the state are encouraging voters to make a plan to vote early to ensure even when issues persist, they will have enough time to access the ballot.
“We are encouraging voters to vote early because there are three weeks of early voting. Planning involves knowing what day they want to vote and how they want to vote, whether early in-person or absentee,” says Stephanie Ali, policy director at New Georgia Project. “And then, knowing things like if they need a ride or finding out if they know the candidates on their ballot.”
Joyce Smith, a Gwinnett county voter, made her plan to vote early to meet her accessibility needs. “I am a senior, and I can’t stand in line too long, but I know how important it was for me to vote,” says Smith. Getting in line early and voting on the first day of elections means that she was able to cast her ballot in less than 15 minutes, thanks to the assistance of the precinct poll workers.
Georgia’s poll workers play a crucial role in the success of the state’s elections. However, following the 2020 general election, some poll workers had trepidations about returning following accusations of election tampering that resulted in intimidation and death threats for some poll workers. Still, counties throughout the state worked to prepare poll workers for the election season, making changes where necessary to meet the needs of the time.
“We’re always tweaking our [poll worker] training to address things that have come up in previous elections,” says Eveler. “This time, we have focused more on hands-on training so poll workers can work with the equipment quite extensively, which they seem to appreciate greatly as we head into early voting.”
While many Georgian’s voting plans rely on in-person voting, others like Jessie Ellis, another Dekalb county voter, plan to vote by absentee ballot. Although Ellis had the option to submit his ballot by mail, he chose to drop his ballot off in person. “I like to drop my ballot off because I want to be sure it gets here on time. Sometimes, with the mail, it can take a long time or get lost. I just want to be sure.”
Through it all, Georgia voters remain steadfast in their quest to access the ballot. Dwain Smith, an NAACP member and DeKalb county voter, says, “This country is in a situation where it’s crucial to make sure that democracy succeeds, survives, and prospers. This is midterms, of course, but with these key statewide elections in place, you have to be sure you come out and vote.”