Early voting in Gwinnett: Voters come out in droves on Day 2

As of right now, it's a 2 1/2 hour wait in this parking lot to get inside here to cast a ballot.

Part of the problem, officials said, is the length of the ballot. It's very long, and it takes voters on average about 15-20 minutes to vote.

County leaders say they are doing everything they can to move the lines along.

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“I've already walked 2 miles this morning. If I get 10,000 (steps), great,” Sandra Griffin said.

Griffin decided to make her steps and her vote count as she waited for her chance at the ballot box.

“Why come today and not wait until later on? Because of the crowd. Come in and get it over with. Make sure I get in to vote,” Griffin said.

The day after the wait in line reached five hours at times, voters once again returned in droves as the county tried to make adjustments to speed things along.

Workershanded out bottles of water to those waiting in the sun.

“County said they weren't expecting this big of a crowd,” Michael McGury said. “They should have. It's a big election."

County leaders said they tried to be ahead of the curve by adding a week to the early voting at this one location at election headquarters, and they didn't expect this type of lines until the final days before Election Day.

Seven additional satellite locations will open Oct. 31.

For now, officials said, there's just not enough time to add additional locations or machines.

“At this point, we've assigned all of our machines out. We've got to be ready for those satellite locations,” Joe Sorenson said.

“I don’t think it's too bad. It's a national election,” voter Paquita Wright said.

The early voting location in Gwinnett is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Those who are in line at 5 p.m. will be allowed to stay and vote.