In Georgia, polls open at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
After an unprecedented wave of early voting across the country, people will now head to the polls on Election Day to complete America’s voting marathon.
Problems with voting technology forced voters to use emergency paper ballots at Morris Brandon Elementary in Buckhead and in Spalding County south of Atlanta.
Some voters in Gwinnett County who had requested absentee ballots were incorrectly turned away.
Most voters reported fast-moving lines.
Voters lined up outside polling places Tuesday morning to be among the first to cast their votes on a crucial Election Day.
Election Day is expected to be the largest day of voting in Georgia, with turnout reaching as high as 2 million. Another 3.9 million people already cast early or absentee ballots.
Esther Kowei-Sanami, 43, arrived at the Lucky Shoals community center at 5:30 AM so that she could vote before getting into work at 9 a.m.
She was the first voter to emerge from the center however after poll workers told her she was in the wrong location. She emerged holding the name of the correct precinct on a small sticky note and said she was going to try to find it.
“I live right here,” she said. “I don’t understand why I can’t vote here.”
In a year that has often felt more like a lifetime, the election of a lifetime is finally upon us.
After an unprecedented wave of early voting across the country, people will now head to the polls on Election Day to complete America’s voting marathon.
If you’ve still held onto your absentee ballot to this point, you will have to physically place it in a drop box – it’s much too late to mail it in now, with the state not accepting any ballots received after polls close at 7 p.m. If you’re physically in line to vote before 7 p.m., though, you’ll be able to vote no matter what. If you need to, you can also cancel your absentee ballot and vote in person today.
Alive Voter Resource Guide
As polls opened at 7 a.m., Atlanta seemed for the most part to be avoiding the long lines and issues that have recently plagued voting days around the area.
It has not been entirely issue-free, however, with Spalding County – a district 45 minutes to the south of the city that President Trump carried with more than 60% of the vote in 2016 – seeing issues at all 18 of its precincts over a problem with the devices used to check voters in. 11Alive’s Rebecca Lindstrom reported around 9 a.m. that some machines were coming back online at at least one precinct.
Further issues with machines were reported at a small handful of Fulton County voting locations.
2020 Atlanta and Georgia Election Results
Keep in mind that with mail-in ballots more prevalent than ever before, many states may experience slower counts. Experts have cautioned that it may not be, or even likely will not be, tonight that we conclusively learn who has won.
From reports in the field to analysis as news breaks to results as they come in later tonight, we’ll be keeping you covered from every angle today.
