It’s going to be a long day for voters in Georgia following reports of multiple issues at the polls, but officials and celebrities including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, are encouraging people to stay in line. Voter suppression was trending on social media today due to reports of long lines and malfunctioning equipment in Georgia during the state’s primary election.
“If you are in line, PLEASE do not allow your vote to be suppressed,” Bottoms tweeted. “PLEASE stay in line. They should offer you a provisional ballot if the machines are not working.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this afternoon Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he has launched an investigation of problems in Fulton and DeKalb counties. He called the situation in those counties “unacceptable.”
“My office has opened an investigation to determine what these counties need to do to resolve these issues before November’s election,” Raffensperger said. “Obviously, the first time a new voting system is used there is going to be a learning curve, and voting in a pandemic only increased these difficulties, but every other county faced these same issues and were significantly better prepared to respond so that voters had every opportunity to vote.”
Some local officials are painting the finger at Raffensperger however, believing these issues are his responsibility to fix.
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“It’s astounding to me what an abdication of leadership that is, to push the ownership down to the counties,” said DeKalb commission’s presiding officer, Steve Bradshaw. “I was raised that if you mess up, fess up.”
Some voters reported standing in line for two hours-plus just to cast a ballot.
There were also viral videos on social media of voters complaining about the machines not working.
Roommates, if you’re experiencing issues at the polls in Georgia or any instance of voter suppression, you’re urged to call the Election Protection hotline at (866) – OUR-VOTE to report problems.
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