After Primary Chaos, Official Warns Of Issues With Bigger Turnout Come November
People wait in line to vote at Central Park in Atlanta. Voters reported wait times of three hours.
John Bazemore / Associated Press
Georgia’s June 9 primary elections snowballed into chaos as voters waited in some locations for hours, with the COVID-19 pandemic complicating mail-in and in-person voting.
The issues were pervasive enough that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened an investigation into how Fulton and DeKalb handled the process. Much of those issues to do with long-term polling locations backing out of the June primaries, according to Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
“In Fulton County, we lost 40 to 45 locations,” Sterling told WABE “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam, adding that the county needs more community spaces and poll workers.
“Many of them were churches that had been polling locations for years, and they’re community-oriented.”
Sterling said that while blame for the primary disorder has bounced between state and local officials, there have been more state efforts to meet directly with Fulton and DeKalb elections officials.
“We’re expecting three times as many people to show up this November 3 than who showed up on June 9, and that is a massive undertaking,” Sterling said.
“And if you were stressed on June 9, you’re going to break and crack on November 3 unless you make changes. That’s what we’re really stressing to the counties right now.”
Come hell or high water, he said, there need to be more precincts for Georgia voters, especially in Fulton and DeKalb.
Sterling added that while there were glitches with Georgia’s new electronic voting machines, the majority of mishaps were because poll workers weren’t properly trained.
“Out of the 46,000 pieces of equipment that were deployed on June 9 in the entire state, 14 had to be taken out of service for malfunctioning,” Sterling said.
“The machines themselves function exactly as they were intended to function, across the board.”
To have a .04% failure rate for the state’s first deployment is insane, he said.
Fulton election’s director Richard Barron has said that Raffensperger and state officials can’t wash their hands of responsibility.
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond also retorted to Raffensperger in a statement and wrote that if there was a failure in leadership, it started at the top.
Thurmond called on Gov. Brian Kemp and other state elections officials to launch a top-to-bottom investigation.
“It is the Secretary of State’s responsibility to train, prepare, and equip election staff throughout the state to ensure fair and equal access to the ballot box,” Thurmond wrote.
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