Georgia Hopes For Smooth Election With High Turnout Expected

A voter casts their ballot on Election Day in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Brynn Anderson / Associated Press

After a rocky primary election that spawned viral photos of voters waiting in hourslong lines to cast their ballots, Georgia election officials are hoping that steps taken since then will help things run more smoothly this Election Day.

Polling places have been added across the state, new poll workers have been recruited and trained, and a record number of people voted early in person or by absentee ballot in the weeks leading up to Nov. 3. But the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage, and voter enthusiasm is expected to drive high turnout.

Voters lined up outside polling places before they opened at 7 a.m. At an elementary school in Atlanta, a technical problem forced voters to cast paper ballots instead of voting on machines. But voting elsewhere initially appeared to run smoothly for the most part.