First day of early voting sees half-hour delays, a visit from Secretary of State

MARIETTA — Monday was the first day of early voting in this year's June 9 presidential preference primary, as well as primaries for a long list of local, state and federal races. But this year's primaries are being handled a little differently.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, Election Day has been postponed multiple times, and voters are being encouraged to vote by absentee ballot to make social distancing easier and to cut down on wait times for in-person voting.

Voters wearing masks of all different colors and patterns waited outside the Cobb election office's main entrance spaced 6 feet apart, while others hopped out of their cars to drop an absentee ballot in a drop box and then went on their way.

Early voting will continue for three weeks. Election Day hours at all voting precincts will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The general election will be Nov. 3. 

A new normal for this year's primaries

Cobb elections director Janine Eveler said Monday's in-person voting at the main elections office in Marietta began with wait times around 70 minutes early in the morning, which settled at around a half-hour as the day went on. 

Eveler said the delay was expected, as poll workers are required to clean voting machine surfaces, as well as the styluses and voter access cards used to make selections on the touchscreens, between every voter. 

Also complicating efficiency are the reduced number of voting machines available to use. Eveler said the main elections office was slated to make 18 machines available, but given social distancing guidelines can only allow five machines to be used.

"And we only can open up four of our nine check-in windows, because the workers themselves and the voters on the other side would be too close together if we opened up all the windows," she said. "So it's a combination of not being able to check in people as quickly, and then having fewer voting machines."

Fewer staff and volunteers willing to work the polls because of coronavirus concerns have also contributed to delays, she said.

Under the "new normal," the elections office estimated it could process around 600 to 700 voters per day versus 2,000 under non-coronavirus circumstances.

She said the staff and machine spacing issues will carry over to many of the early voting locations set to open on June 1, as well as Election Day precincts.

"We were targeting 10 workers per poll," Eveler said. "We're looking at between five and six people per poll instead. ... And we're always looking for more people to help us out."

Eveler also said the length of the ballot, both with a long list of candidates and a list of questions being posed to voters by each political party, means voters are taking longer to read and respond while they vote than they have in past elections.

Eveler previously told the MDJ that some Election Day voting precincts may have to change with little notice as some of the facilities volunteered for voting may drop off the list because of coronavirus concerns. She said Monday that one has already done so.

The Roswell 02 precinct will change from Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, at 1770 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta to Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, 1795 Johnson Ferry Road Marietta, effective May 26, according to the elections office.

The board of elections is expected to vote to finalize that change on May 26.

Eveler said voters should visit the Georgia My Voter Page through the Secretary of State's Office to ensure they're heading to the correct precinct on Election Day. 

The elections director said, though the new procedures have delayed voting, operations are moving relatively smoothly. And, she added, she is encouraged to have seen so many voters stopping by to drop their absentee ballots in the drop box at the main elections office.

"If we can help people vote from home and through the mail or through drop boxes, then we don't have as much as a line on early voting or Election Day," she said, adding that voters can request a mailed ballot and expect to have their response received if they apply by June 2 or June 3. "It is contact-free, you can not have to worry about any of the COVID-19 sanitizing or distancing or any of that."

At the close of voting on Monday, the Cobb elections office recorded 303 votes cast in person. That's compared to the 386 votes cast on the first day of early voting in the 2016 presidential primaries.

Voters seemingly unfazed by delays 

Whether voting in person or by absentee ballot, voters at the elections office in Marietta seemed pleased with their experience on Monday, even with a delay.

"I think it went very well. It was very well organized. They did a great job. I was very impressed," said Harvey Persons, a north Cobb resident who said he'd waited about 30 minutes to vote. 

Through his mask, Person told the MDJ he'd chosen to vote in person because he wanted to see the process for himself and because his military service had taken him to other countries where he'd seen their citizens without a right to vote.

"I think it's a privilege, and I wanted to exercise it in person," Persons said.

Clinton Smith, a south Cobb resident, said he chose to vote in person because he felt it was more secure. 

"I felt more comfortable that my vote would be counted, there wouldn't be any errors ... or delay in counting my vote," Smith said, noting also that he'd felt "quite comfortable" with the altered voting procedures at the office. He said the ramped-up sanitation efforts may be a good idea to continue in perpetuity.

Larisa Dukes, meanwhile, stopped by the office on a lunch break from her at-home office to drop off her absentee ballot. Dukes, who lives just west of the Marietta elections office, said she enjoyed voting by absentee. She said the mailed ballot allowed her to easily see all the candidates' names ahead of time, allowing her to better research them. 

Dukes said she chose to vote absentee because "it was super simple," and because it meant she could help reduce wait times for in-person voters, as well as avoid COVID-19 concerns.

Raffensperger pays a visit

During a short visit to the Cobb elections office Monday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger continued to encourage Georgians to vote by mail, saying that between 1.4 million and 1.5 million voters had already requested a ballot.

About 1.35 million of those requested, he said, have been received. But don't panic if you haven't received a ballot you've requested, Raffensperger said, there's still plenty of time.

"I got mine on the weekend, and I'll be finishing up today or tomorrow getting mine back out to the county," he said. Raffensperger's office sent about 6.9 million absentee ballot requests forms to voters to encourage the measure.

On whether he believes an increase in absentee ballots may cause delays in tabulation on Election Day, Raffensperger said only time will tell. He said the reduction in poll workers has impacted counties across the state, and that has meant a "tough situation," for poll workers everywhere.

On Monday, the State Board of Elections approved a measure allowing elections officials to open absentee ballots prior to Election Day for scanning, but county offices still won't be able to count the ballots until after polls close on June 9.

Both Raffensperger and Eveler said some voters across the state and locally who have requested absentee ballots are coming in to vote in person. Both told the MDJ they're urging those who have requested the absentee ballots to follow through with their completion. 

Canceling absentee ballots when a voter shows up in person takes time and delays an already slower voting procedure, Eveler said. She said 91 of the 303 voters who came to the polls Monday had been sent absentee ballots that then had to be canceled. 

Raffensperger said he is unsure whether the unprecedented nature of this year's primary voting will change the way voting happens around the state for good, but he said it is possible that the push for absentee voting from local and state officials may lead to an increase in absentee voting in future elections.

"Historically only 5% to 7% of Georgians would vote absentee. Maybe after going through this process, they say, 'Oh, it's really not that complicated,' and that number bumps up," he said. "We'll just have to wait and see."