Georgia vote count lags in ‘meltdown’
Georgia poll workers continue to count a flood of ballots after a disastrous primary election marred by hourslong lines to vote and mechanical breakdowns in the Atlanta metro area.
Results could take days to finalize as Democratic strongholds suffered widespread major problems with inperson polling amid the coronavirus pandemic and the racial justice protests.
Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who narrowly lost a race for governor of the Peach State in 2018, called the “total meltdown” at the polls a deliberate Republican strategy to limit turnout in Democratic areas.
“Voter suppression takes on multiple forms. Georgia excels in too many of them,” Abrams wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
Abrams herself said she had to vote in person Tuesday after being unable to open a sealed absentee ballot that was sent to her home.
Hillary Clinton said Wednesday the voting woes in Georgia were “by design” and intended to help Republicans keep a grip on the fast-changing state.
The chaos could be a preview of Georgia’s closely watched election in November when Democrats hope to put the Republican-leaning state in play by challenging President Trump and incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue.
As votes rolled in slowly, Democrat Jon Ossoff took a commanding lead in the race to take on Perdue, which could be a marquee race in the fight for control of the Senate. He was just short of the 50% mark needed to avoid an August runoff.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden romped to an overwhelming win over Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won about 10% of the vote despite throwing in the towel in April.
The biggest story was the voting woes, not the results, which mostly came in as expected.
“It scares me,” said Cathy Cox, a Democrat who oversaw Georgia elections as secretary of state from 1999 through 2007. “But hopefully it was such a traumatic experience for so many people, and appears to be such a black eye for Georgia, that it will ring the bell for elected officials to make significant changes.”
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, blamed local election officials. He said he plans to ask lawmakers to give state officials greater oversight of county election offices, including “authority to directly intervene and require management changes.”
Metro Atlanta appeared to have the worst voting delays, with some voters reporting five-hour waits and others giving up and leaving in frustration when confronted with long, slow-moving lines. Voting hours were extended, and the last voters didn’t cast their ballots until around midnight.