Early Voting At State Farm Arena: Hear WABE Live With CEO Steve Koonin, Stacey Abrams, Fulton Voters
People wait in a line to vote early at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Monday.
Brynn Anderson / Associated Press
Fulton elections officials and the Atlanta Hawks once again transformed State Farm Arena into the state’s largest-ever early voting precinct until Oct. 30.
WABE’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” team stuck around for a live broadcast all day Monday.
Catch up on what we saw at the arena during “All Things Considered” here — including an interview with Atlanta Hawks president and CEO of State Farm Arena Steve Koonin and Georgia Democrat and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.
Now on @wabenews:
We are LIVE for the first day of #earlyvoting at @StateFarmArena, home of the @ATLHawks – with @PatStClaire @jimburress @Emma_Hurt @EmilMoffatt @CalstonChris
tune in NOW for an interview with @staceyabrams on 90.1FM #fairfight https://t.co/K1EV2jPebh pic.twitter.com/7aJ6t0itOl
— Lily Oppenheimer (@LilyOppenheimer) October 12, 2020
Meanwhile, Georgians at other polling sites across the metro area have been waiting to cast a ballot anywhere from two to 11 hours during the first stretch of early voting this week.
More than 128,000 Georgians went to the polls Monday, setting a record for the first day of early voting in the state, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. That high turnout rate surpassed the nearly 91,000 votes cast on the first day of early voting in the 2016 presidential election.
But besides a minor polling pad system glitch Monday morning that caused a bit of traffic, State Farm Arena rebounded and pushed voters smoothly through the process.
Fulton County voters, early voting for November’s General Election begins TODAY and runs through Oct. 30 at State Farm Arena!
Here’s what you need to know to be ready to vote ⤵️
🗳: https://t.co/wdph02Fgpb pic.twitter.com/A2P6weHi9Y
— State Farm Arena (@StateFarmArena) October 12, 2020
Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron told WABE that approximately 3,000 voters cast a ballot at State Farm Arena alone on the first day.
Koonin said that it’s just an overwhelmingly positive feeling from the arena’s 300 full-time employees who have transitioned and trained to work the polls.
“A lot of our folks were out in the streets protesting in early June. They want their voices heard,” Koonin said.
“And by working here and being part of this process, they feel like they’re making a contribution both to their community and their country.”
Koonin said the staff at State Farm — trained and ready to serve as poll workers — has doubled compared to the arena’s first early voting trial run in August.
Meet @borthomas – seriously dressed to impress and to VOTE…she stopped a minute to chat with @npratc producer @LilyOppenheimer about voting today @StateFarmArena @jimburress pic.twitter.com/pkFlebAWgU
— Pat St. Claire (@PatStClaire) October 12, 2020
Emil Moffatt, Emma Hurt and Christopher Alston contributed to this report.
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