Georgia’s Fulton County works to avoid another vote debacle

ATLANTA (AP) — Twice delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Georgia’s primary election earlier this year was marred by dysfunction: Hourslong wait times at polling places. Absentee ballots that never arrived. Votes cast after midnight.

The problems were most acute in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold in a traditionally red state. State leaders launched investigations while election officials in the most populous county said they did the best they could in unprecedented circumstances.

Now, election officials say they’re making changes to avoid a repeat in November, as Georgia emerges as a potential presidential battleground, turnout is expected to set records and the coronavirus continues to rage.

With nearly 790,000 active voters, Fulton County accounts for about 11% of the state’s electorate. Voting problems in and around Atlanta in recent elections have become a national flashpoint because they disproportionately affect Black residents, who comprise just over half the city’s population.

The day after the primary, the front page of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution blared, “COMPLETE MELTDOWN” across a photograph of voters, many wearing masks, in a long line outside an Atlanta polling place.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said the election went well overall but promised investigations into the election’s handling in Fulton and neighboring DeKalb County. The Republican speaker of the Georgia House said Fulton was particularly troubling as he called for an investigation of the primary process.

Voting rights activists and academics noted that predominantly Black communities saw some of the longest lines, which they said is especially worrisome given the history of Georgia and other Southern states suppressing Black votes.

“I’m not necessarily accusing folks of intentionally trying to disenfranchise Black voters. But if the outcome is that Blacks are bearing the disproportionate brunt of the decisions, then it is racial and it has to be adjusted,” Emory University political science professor Andra Gillespie said.

LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, said she waited with voters who finally cast their ballots at 12:37 a.m. the next day.

“I think it is a combination of the failure of leadership, systemic and structural racism, and voter suppression that is alive and rampant in this state,” she said, adding that long lines and other problems can lead to voter apathy.

The night of the primary, Fulton County elections director Rick Barron spoke frankly with reporters about challenges his staff faced.

He said the pandemic was the root of many of the problems. It caused poll workers to drop out, complicated poll worker training on a new election system and led to a significant number of polling places having to be changed or consolidated.

To limit potential exposure to the virus, the secretary of state encouraged people to vote by mail and sent absentee ballot applications to active voters.