Secretary of State’s Office working on voter check-in delays as long lines continue for early voting

ATLANTA — Georgia’s Secretary of State says his office is working to fix the voter check-in delays that county election officials say are contributing to the long waits at some voting sites.

After Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray’s initial reporting on the issues on Tuesday, the secretary of state’s office said it did get some added bandwidth from their vendor and they think is speeding up check-ins at the polls.

Counties say at times they have trouble connecting to the state system. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Gray he expects a fix by Friday for what he called a bandwidth problem.

“It’s like everyone jumping on 285 in the morning,” Raffensperger said.

In Marietta, voter Myra Miller said she waited 2½ hours to vote Wednesday.

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“It’s long, but I don’t know that we have an option of anything different,” Miller said.

The secretary of state said that Cobb, Gwinnett, and other counties with long waits this week have committed to adding more machines for early voting.

Raffensperger said everything has to be right for Nov. 3, when there is no option to come back later or vote at another location.

“We are analyzing each and every polling place to make sure they deploy enough equipment and personnel,” Raffensperger said.

With 300 voting machines and free parking, State Farm Arena in Fulton County continues to have short waits.

Teressa Thompson has health challenges and worried about a line, but it only took her about 15 minutes to vote.

“Health-wise, I wouldn’t have been able to endure an 8-hour wait,” Thompson told Gray. “It was great. It was very speedy.”

Voters wait up to 8 hours to vote early on day 2 of early voting Many voters may no realize they can go to any location within their county.

Cox Media Group