Voting problems emerge as Americans go to polls
Civil rights groups and election officials fielded thousands of reports of voting irregularities across the country Tuesday, with voters complaining of broken machines, long lines and untrained poll workers improperly challenging Americans’ right to vote.
The loudest of those complaints came from Georgia, where issues of race, ballot access and election fairness have fueled an acrimonious governor’s contest between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp. Abrams, a former state lawmaker, is vying to be the nation’s firstever black woman governor, while Kemp, the secretary of state who oversees elections, has faced accusations of trying to suppress the minority vote.
In one downtown Atlanta precinct, voters waited three hours to cast ballots after local election officials initially sent only three voting machines to serve more than 3,000 registered voters. In suburban Gwinnett County, the wait surpassed four hours, as election officials opened the polls only to discover that their voting machines weren’t working at all, voters said.
Both locations serve predominantly African-American voters, feeding worries among some voters that specific groups were being disenfranchised amid signs of record turnout for a midterm.
“Look at the people here,” said Gabe Okoye, chairman of the Gwinnett County Democratic Party, as he watched mostly black voters enter and exit the voting location. “See the demography of these voters.”
“If you’re going to play tricks anywhere, you’re going to do it here,” he added, noting the importance of the populous county to the final vote count.
The wave of complaints from voters came at the end of a campaign season dominated by concerns about ballot access and voting rights. It remained unclear Tuesday how many of the complaints were legitimate, how many voters were affected and whether the problems would affect the outcome of any races.
Some of the anxiety stemmed from a spate of restrictive voting laws passed by Republicans in recent years affecting dozens of this year’s closely contested races for House, Senate and governor.
Republicans have said the tough new rules are necessary to combat voter fraud. On Monday, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions both warned against voter fraud, although studies have found is no evidence of widespread fraud.
Voting rights activists argue that the laws disproportionately affect young Americans and minorities, who tend to vote Democratic.
The spike in reports of problems coincided with heightened enthusiasm across the country to participate in this year’s races.