Heat, rain, long lines: Election plagued by problems
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Voters endured heat, pouring rain and waits as long as five hours on Tuesday to cast ballots in Georgia, demonstrating a fierce desire to participate in the democratic process while raising questions about the emerging battleground state’s ability to manage elections in November when the White House is at stake.
“It’s really disheartening to see a line like this in an area with predominantly black residents,” said Benaiah Shaw, a 25-year-old African American, as he cast a ballot in Atlanta.
A confluence of events disrupted primary elections for president, U.S. Senate and dozens of other contests. There were problems with Georgia’s new voting machines, which combine touchscreens with scanned paper ballots. The polls were staffed by fewer workers because of coronavirus concerns. A reduced workforce contributed to officials consolidating polling places, which disproportionately affected neighborhoods with high concentrations of people of color. Long lines were also reported in whiter suburban areas.
Some voters said they requested mail-in ballots that never arrived, forcing them to go to polling places and adding to the lines. Turnout, meanwhile, may be higher than expected as voters said they were determined to exercise their constitutional right after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing demonstrations that swept cities including Atlanta.
“Too many people died for me to have this opportunity,” said Stephanie Bush, a 49-year-old black independent voter in Atlanta. “So for me not to stick it out would be a dishonor to them.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden easily won the state’s Democratic presidential primary. He was facing no real opposition but hoped to post a strong showing among Georgia’s diverse electorate to show his strength heading into the general election.
But the developments were troubling heading into the fall presidential campaign, which will attract even more voters. Biden and President Donald Trump are expected to fiercely compete in this rapidly changing state. That leaves officials, who have already been criticized for attempting to suppress the vote, with less than five months to turn things around.
Republican leaders blamed the meltdowns on officials in Fulton and DeKalb counties, which are Democratic strongholds with significant black populations.
“When these things arise, and it’s really specifically in one or two counties ... it leads us back to the failure of the management of the county election directors in those counties,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told The Associated Press. “It has nothing to do with what we’re doing in the rest of Georgia.”
Republican House Speaker
David Ralston directed leaders of the House Governmental Affairs Committee to investigate the “unacceptable deficiencies” across the state, particularly in Fulton County.
Voters leaving one Fulton County polling place offered words of encouragement to the many people waiting in line well past the alreadyextended poll closing time of 9 p.m. “Let’s vote this guy out of office,” one said, a reference to Trump.
Volunteers handed out bags of popcorn, chips and candy. People in line smoked cigarettes and cursed the wait. Some said they’d tried to vote earlier in the day but left because the line wrapped around the block.
Democrats insisted the issues were more widespread. About 250 miles from Atlanta, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he was “inundated” with phone calls from voters reporting “extensive delays.”
The Trump campaign seized on the problems to amplify the president’s broader opposition to expanded mail voting this fall.
“The chaos in Georgia is a direct result of the reduction in the number of in-person polling places and over reliance on mail-in voting,” said Trump campaign senior counsel Justin Clark. “We have a duty to protect the constitutional rights of all of our citizens to vote in person and to have their votes counted.”
ATLANTA — Incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Sarah Warren has defeated Dougherty County prosecutor and former local judge Hal Moroz in a nonpartisan general election for a sixyear term.
Then-Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Warren in 2018. She previously served as the state’s solicitor general from 2017 to 2018 and worked in the Georgia attorney general’s office for several years before that.
Warren also worked in President George W. Bush’s administration. Moroz touted his military and varied legal experience, promising to highlight victims’ rights.
Democratic voters in Georgia on Tuesday were choosing between seven contenders who want to challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Republican David Perdue.
Also on the ballot for the Democratic and Republican primary elections were 16 contested U.S. House seats, dozens of state House and state Senate seats, and two state Supreme Court positions.
Voters also got their say in long-delayed presidential primaries, even though President Donald Trump and Joe Biden have wrapped up their parties’ respective nominations. Biden won Georgia’s primary, appearing alongside 11 other Democrats on ballots finalized months ago. Trump was the only choice on the Republican ballot.
Jon Ossoff, Teresa Tomlinson and Sarah Riggs Amico headlined the Senate race. If no one wins a majority, the top two contenders will return in an Aug. 11 runoff. Democrats hope to be competitive in both the Perdue race, as well as a November special election to fill the last two years of the term of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a race in which Kelly Loeffler currently holds the seat by appointment.
Ossoff, having lost an expensive House special election to Karen Handel in 2017, used name recognition and money to lead the contest, and has moved to the left since the 2017 race. He focused the campaign on fighting corruption, which he says distinguishes him from the other Democratic candidates.
Tomlinson, the former mayor of Columbus, argued that she is a more experienced politician who can attract voters statewide. Amico, who was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018, highlighted her business experience and union support.
6TH DISTRICT Republican Karen Handel, running against four other Republicans, said she should get a rematch with first-term Democratic incumbent Lucy McBath. Her opponents, including Mykel Lynn Barthelemy, Blake Harbin, Joe Profit and Paulette Smith, said the former Georgia secretary of state isn’t the right candidate to face McBath after losing to her in 2018. McBath had no opponents for the Democratic nomination in the 6th District, which includes northern Fulton and DeKalb counties and eastern Cobb County.
7TH DISTRICT
Both Republicans and Democrats had competitive primaries in the 7th District, where incumbent U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall isn’t seeking another term. Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux asked her party to give her another shot at the seat in parts of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties after she lost to Woodall by fewer than 500 votes in 2018.
Other Democratic candidates for the seat included state Sen. Zahra Karinshak, state Rep. Brenda Lopez Romero, former Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves, progressive activist Nabilah Islam and 2016 Democratic nominee Rashid Malik.
On the Republican side, state Sen. Renee Unterman and physician Rich McCormick were front-runners. Like McCormick, businessman Mark Gonsalves and former Home Depot executive Lynne Homrich are pitched themselves as outsiders.
14TH DISTRICT
Nine Republicans sought to succeed U.S. Rep Tom Graves in northwest Georgia’s 14th congressional district, after Graves announced he would step down. Neurosurgeon John Cowan and businessperson Marjorie Taylor Greene led fundraising. Others included former state schools Superintendent John Barge, state Rep. Kevin Cooke and former state Rep. Bill Hembree. Also running were car dealer Matt Laughridge, Republican Party official Andy Gunther, former assistant district attorney Clayton Fuller, and business owner Ben Bullock. The Republican nominee will face Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal. The district covers all or part of 12 counties in northwest Georgia.
In early results as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Marjorie Greene had approximately 40% of the vote, and John Cowan had 19% of the vote.