Delays, long lines plague Ga. primaries
ATLANTA — Voters endured heat, pouring rain and waits as long as five hours 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 participate in the democratic process after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing demonstrations that swept cities including Atlanta.
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.
Polling places in at least nine Georgia counties — from the northwest corner of the state to the southeast coastline — remained open later than expected because of the problems.
The developments were troubling heading into the fall presidential campaign, which will attract even more voters. President Donald Trump and Mr. Biden 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.
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 Biden campaign called the voting problems in Georgia “completely unacceptable,” as well as a threat to American values of free and fair elections.
Americans also voted in primaries in West Virginia, Nevada and South Carolina.