Georgia voters report experiencing long lines, machine issues in twice-postponed primary

Long lines at polling stations and problems with voting machines prompted calls for an investigation after Georgia's primary election Tuesday.

Georgia, which had previously postponed the primary twice because of the coronavirus pandemic, used new digital touch screens that issue paper records of votes. In some places, voters said none of the voting machines were working correctly, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wrote on Twitter.

"Let’s all work, hope and pray that this not be a preview of November," Bottoms tweeted.

Georgia is among five states with primaries on Tuesday, and state officials urged voters to use absentee ballots to prevent the risk of a spread of the virus through in-person voting. The state sent applications for absentee ballots to 6.9 million active registered voters.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that more than 1.2 million Georgians had already voted, most of them with absentee ballots. Some who showed up in person said they requested absentee ballots but never received them.

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Voters in the state reported waiting for up to three hours or more to vote at their polling places. The reduced number of voting locations and a shortage of poll workers were expected. Raffensperger had predicted longer lines and said Monday that the outcome of the votes might not be available for days. The primary was originally scheduled for March 24.

One voter in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, said he waited in line for three hours after confusion over his relocated polling place. Kendrick Hammond, a 38-year-old registered Democrat, said once he finally got inside to vote, machines were set up in a way that didn't allow for social distancing, putting him just a couple feet away from the next voter.

"I don’t feel like the poll workers were probably properly prepared for doing this," Hammond said.

All Fulton County polling places' voting hours were extended until 9 p.m., and ballots will be placed in provisional envelopes starting at 7 p.m. instead of being scanned, the county announced. Precincts in other counties also extended their voting hours.

“We are deeply disturbed by widespread reports of malfunctioning machines, long lines, polling sites that opened late and insufficient numbers of back up paper ballots in Georgia," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a statement.

The key race in Georgia's primary is among Democrats hoping to challenge Republican Sen. David Perdue, an ally of President Donald Trump. If none of the Democratic candidates receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two will proceed to a runoff Aug. 11.

The contenders are Jon Ossoff, a former journalist who lost a close, and expensive, special congressional election in 2017; former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson; former candidate for lieutenant governor Sarah Riggs Amico; former ACLU of Georgia head Maya Dillard Smith; Air Force veteran James Knox and former state Senate candidate Marckeith DeJesus.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, faced allegations of voter suppression in the 2018 elections when he was secretary of state, and that the current elections chief is also a Republican, so the voting issues were unsurprising.

"Republicans want to ensure that it is as hard as possible for people to vote," Perez said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., pointed to a 2013 Supreme Court decision that invalidated a portion of the Voting Rights Act requiring certain states and municipalities with a history of racial discrimination to clear changes in voting procedures with the federal government, including Georgia.

"We know Republicans want to suppress the vote – it’s the only way they think they can win. That’s why the Supreme Court’s 5-4 partisan decision in Shelby County is so disturbing. It made the problems we’re seeing in Georgia today more likely," Whitehouse tweeted.

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Gabriel Sterling, who works as the chief operating officer in Raffensperger's office, said he had heard of no "actual equipment issues," attributing the reported problems to "counties engaging in poor planning, limited training, and failures of leadership."

Raffensperger said Tuesday that he has launched an investigation in Fulton and DeKalb counties where a large number of problems were reported. He called the issues "unacceptable."

"My office has opened an investigation to determine what these counties need to do to resolve these issues before November’s election," he said in a statement.

Georgia's Republican House Speaker David Ralston also called for an investigation into Tuesday's election issues, particularly in Fulton County. He said poll workers should not be blamed for "systemic problems beyond their control."

Voters also cast ballots in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and West Virginia on Tuesday. The primaries come as states see massive protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused more than 111,000 deaths in the U.S.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James chimed in on Twitter about the voting situation in Georgia, after voicing support for Black Lives Matter protests in recent days.

"Everyone talking about 'how do we fix this?' They say 'go out and vote?' What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist?" James said.

Contributing: William Cummings; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2020 primary: Georgia voters see long lines, machine issues amid pandemic