AJC.com > Metro > Georgia Politics Blog > Archives > 2004 > March > 02
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 05:37 PM
Mick Boxer, 45, a video producer and Renee Daniel, 38, a private tutor, both from Virginia Highlannd, cast Democratic ballots.
Both said they “angry” about the Bush performance, though Boxer preferred to call himself “extremely dissastified…..Bush has been a disaster, but anger implies a loss of control. You can evaluate his performance dispassionately and still realize it’s been a disaster.”
Daniel sees opposition to the war in Iraq as the issue most on her mind in voting for president, though both said they support the troops in Iraq.
“Bush has polarized this country in how wealth is distributed,” Daniel said. “He is so blatantly iin the pocket of big business and the military industrial complex.”
Boxer and Daniel said they voted for Kerry.
“I initially liked Edwards,” said Daniel. But she felt the Democrats need to unite behind Kerry as the probable nominee and “a candidate who can beat Bush.”
Metro reporter Bill Montgomery
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Turnout slow in Fayette County
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 05:28 PM
Turnout in Fayette County was low, several precinct mangers said.
The voting precinct at Heritage Church in Fayetteville, is one of the largest in the county with about 2500 voters. The typical turnout is about 75 percent. But only about 300 people had voted by 4 p.m. precinct manger Exa Bryan.
“I don’t know where everyone is,” Bryan said.
Turnout was slow, yet steady at the United Methodist Church in Fayetteville.
Precinct manager Tom Zaworski wondered if the early voting that occured last week was the reason.
The mangers said there have been few problems with the new touch-screen voting machines.
“We’ve had nothing but favorable reactions from the voters,” Zaworski said. “It has been a real joy.”
Bryan said some people were anxious and hit buttons too fast.
“The problems have not been with the computers,” Bryan said. “You could say the few problems we’ve had are with the people using them. People just seem anxious today. But overall things have gone smoothly.”
Fayette reporter Laura Diamond
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Ballot confusion reported in DeKalb County
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 04:58 PM
Some DeKalb County voters complained they didn’t get to vote in the Democratic presidential primary, said DeKalb Democratic Party chairman Don Brothers.
Brothers said he raised the issue with state election officials after hearing about it from the Kerry campaign. He commended both state and DeKalb election officials for swiftly spreading word to poll managers to try to help voters avoid getting the wrong electronic ballot.
Linda Lattimore, DeKalb’s election supervisor, said DeKalb election workers try to avoid problems by allowing voters to choose for themselves which application to fill out. And she said notices are posted at each voting machine advising voters to stop touching the screen if they suspect a problem.
“Don’t just keep hitting around on the machine,” she advised. A poll manager can cancel any ballot and get a new one — until the voter hits the last button to cast the ballot. After that, the vote can’t be changed.
“We couldn’t go in the ballot box before and get it out, and we can’t go in that machine and get it out,” she said.
Brothers said he blamed the problems on the uniqueness of having a special election coincide with a presidential primary. He took a swipe at Republicans for engineering the timing: “They did it because George W. didn’t want this flag issue on the general election ballot.”
DeKalb reporter David Simpson
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 04:53 PM
Virginia Highlands resident Katy Morrisey, 35, brought her children, Natalie,3, and Andrew,1, to the precinct at Grace Lutheran Church on N. Highland Avenue where she voted Tuesday morning.
A political independant, Morrisey said she was “somewhat satisfied — something between satisfied and disatisfied” with the Bush administration’s performance.
However, she cast a Democratic ballot for Edwards, “probably the strongest choice for the Democratic party.”
The last presidential election, Morrisey voted for Bush; she was living in Nashville and did not vote in the last Georgia gubernatorial election.
The most important issue to Morrisey is “national security”, ecompassing the war in Iraq and terrorism. “The way America is seen in the world right now … there are people who want to harm us, and I don’t want my children to grow up with fear.”
Morrisey did not vote on the state flag. “Having been here only a year, I didn’t feel like Georgia is my home yet.”
Metro reporter Bill Montgomery
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Some Fulton voters get wrong ballot
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 04:23 PM
Voters in Fulton County complained today that they were not able to cast a ballot in the Democratic presidential primary.
Some voters apparently filled out the wrong voter certification form and received the ballot that allowed them to vote only between two choices for the state flag and not for any presidential candidate.
“There’s a lot of confusion,” said April Pye, administrative chief for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections. “They’re saying, ‘I didn’t come to vote for the flag. I came to vote for president.’” Pye said several people had called Fulton elections offices to complain.
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Plenty of time for reading, chatting
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 04:13 PM
Voting at the Kedron Fieldhouse and Aquatic Center precinct in Peachtree City, like most precincts around the metro area, was light.
Fifteen to 20 minutes passed between voters, precinct manager Jackie Barr said. By 12:30 p.m. only 130 of about 2,400 registered voters had cast their ballots. And Barr said she wasn’t expecting her 10 election workers to be any busier later on today.
“This is definitely a Republican area and this is definitely a Democratic primary.”
They were prepared for a heavier turnout, Barr said. The voting moved from a small community room to the center’s gymnasium this year. Ten voting machines were sent out. But the workers have spent most of their day chatting with each other, reading, and waiting.
Barr said many of the voters are crossovers from the Republican Party.
One of them was Coy Perkins, 49, a showroom manager at the Atlanta Gift Mart.
She voted for Sen. John Edwards.
“I like him a whole lot better than [Sen. John] Kerry,” Perkins said. “I will vote for Bush” in November.
Fayette reporter Rochelle Carter
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 04:02 PM
Retired librarian Martha Hughes said she voted for John Kerry in Tuesday’s Democrat primary. She feels anger toward President Bush, she said, because Bush has “done a lot of damage” to the environment and is “pitting the rich against the poor.”
Hughes, a Democrat who votes in the East Valley precinct in East Cobb listed taxes, education, the war in Iraq, health care, the economy and jobs as priorities and she doesn’t think Bush is doing a good job with any of them.
Bob Camp, 61, a Republican who voted at the Power Ferry Precinct 01, believes Bush has done a good job.
Cobb reporter Kristina Torres
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Low turnout in West Cobb
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 03:58 PM
At Dowell Elementary School in West Cobb 114 Democrats and 45 Republicans had cast ballots by early afternoon. Five voters opted to take ballots for the flag vote only. Poll manager Diane Huie said she expects a very low turnout of 10-12 percent of the 2,685 registered voters in the precinct.
Cherokee bureau chief Tom Opdyke
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Low turnout continues into the afternoon
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 03:24 PM
From staff reports
Few people were casting ballots as Super Tuesday dragged into the afternoon.
At the Heritage Precinct in Woodstock, only 91 voters had cast a ballot in the presidential primary and state flag referendum by 2 p.m.
“It’s very slow,” said poll manager Kaye Thrasher. We were told to expect a 30 percent turnout. A rush for us is three people.”
Thrasher said a few people are apprehensive about using the machines for the first time. “But we showed them what to do and they came out smiling, saying ‘That was so easy.’”
Statewide, there was “light turnout” as of mid-afternoon, said Cara Hodgson, public information officer for the secretary of state’s office.
Secretary of State Cathy Cox, who oversees elections, had earlier predicted that 26 percent of Georgia’s registered voters, or slightly more than one million citizens, would participate in Tuesday’s Presidential Preference Primary and Special Advisory Flag Referendum.
As of Feb. 1, Georgia had 3,919,403 voters on its active voter roll.
The special referendum on the flag caused a little confusion early this morning at some precincts, said Hodgson, but the matter was quickly resolved.
Hodgson said there were three ballots voters could choose; Democratic, Republican and one listing just the flag referendum.
Many voters wanting to vote in the presidential primary mistakenly used a “special election ballot,” which listed just the flag question, said Hodgson.
“Normally we do not have [a statewide special referendum] in a presidential preference primary” and that contributed to the confusion, said Hodgson.
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 03:11 PM
Turnout was low at the East Valley precinct in East Cobb County where only 180 of 2,327 registered voters had cast ballots by noon.
Airline pilot Chris Franklin cast his ballot for George Bush “with reservations.” Franklin said Bush hasn’t addressed problems in the Middle East.
“He’s got an opportunity with his administration in place to deal with issues that will be critical.” A “new guy,” he said, wouldn’t have a chance to react as quickly.
Nancy O’Neill also was more enthusiastic about voting for the president.
A graphic artist, who lives in East Cobb, O’Neill said she supports Bush because he cut taxes and the economy is improving.
East Cobb Realtor Carolyn Llorente, 56, was also enthusiastic about supporting Bush because, she said, “Things are turning around.”
Llorente said she hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter because there hasn’t been a candidate she liked. “I think the Democratic Party has changed tremendously.”
Cobb reporter Kristina Torres
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 02:39 PM
“It’s been a bad few years,” said stay-at-home mom Christy Myrick, 35,, who lives in the Atlanta neighborhood of Kirkwood and voted at the Boulevard Precinct. “I’d like to see a good few years, if not more, economy-wise.”
A Democrat, Myrick voted for Kerry.
Myrick also voted for the Perdue flag. “I had heard — and I might be wrong — that if that flag is chosen, there won’t be any more discussion, and it will be over finally.”
Michael Perry, 42, a postal worker who also lives in Kirkwood, also voted for the Perdue flag. “Only because — only because — I’m of the understanding this will be the last time this issue would be debated.”
Perry, a Democrat, also cast a vote for Kerry. “I like the fact that he seems to listen to all sides. … A president has to be decisive in a final analysis, but you have to pull all sides together.”
Metro reporter Jill Young Miller
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
How slow was it? Three people considered a “rush” at Woodstock precinct
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 02:27 PM
The turnout was low at the Heritage Precinct in Woodstock, poll manager Kaye Thrasher said.
Only 91 had showed up as of 2 p.m..
“It’s very slow,” she said. We were told to expect a 30 percent turnout. A rush for us is three people.”
Thrasher said a few people are apprehensive about using the machines for the first time. “But we showed them what to do and they came out smiling, saying ‘That was so easy’.”
At Canton “C” polling place at Teasley Middle School poll manager Charles Cash, about 140 of the 2,553 registered voters had showed up as of 1 p.m.
“It’s been a slow steady pace,” Cash said. “Everything’s been trouble free.”
Cherokee reporter Doug Payne
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Bill would relax lawyer, bail bond rules
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 11:40 AM
The House voted 152-9 Tuesday for a bill that would allow attorneys to have a financial stake in a bail bonding business.
The bill would prohibit attorneys from managing the company and representing clients who obtain bond from a bail bond business in which the attorney has an ownership interest.
House Bill 1206 takes out a previous section of the current law that made it unlawful for any elected official, officer of the court, law enforcement officer, or attorney to engage either directly or indirectly in the bail bond business.
— Ernie Suggs, Staff writer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Permalink | Categories: Today's update
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 11:35 AM
Willene Mitchell, a 58-year-old unemployed grill cook said she voted for Kerry.
“I think he’ll make a better president,” said Mitchell, voting at the Boulevard Precinct in Atlanta. “Plus he’s got that Kennedy look to him and I always was fond of the Kennedys.”
Metro reporter Jill Young Miller
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 11:23 AM
At the Dixie Precinct in Cherokee County, John Snipes, 55, cast his vote for Democrat John Edwards, “because he’s more in touch with the South and the country as a whole.”
Asked what issues are important to him, Snipes said, “A conglomorate that includes the economy, the war and jobs.”
Cherokee reporter Doug Payne
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Kirkwood goes to the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 11:22 AM
Daryl Johnson poll manager at the Boulevard Precinct in Kirkword said turnout was steady but “not overwhelming.”
By 10:45 a.m. there had been 214 voters, said Johnson.
“It’s a strong community for voting,” Johnson said, adding that about 70 percent of voters in the pricinct are are African-American. “They take voting very seriously in this area.
Metro reporter Jill Young Miller
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Gay marriage ban bill stays in committee
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 11:01 AM
As expected, the House Rules Committee passed on re-introducing Senate Resolution 595 to the full house this morning.
The controversial bill, which would only recognize the union of a man and a women, was thrown back to the Rules Committee Monday after the House voted 127-48 to reconsider.
Last week, the Republican-sponsored bill missed passage by only three votes. Rules Chair Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) did not give a timetable of when the bill would be discussed.
Smyre said that other pressing issues, including budget cuts, need to be dealt with first.
— Ernie Suggs, Staff writer, Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Permalink | Categories: Gay Marriage Ban
A (good) shot in the arm for voting
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 10:59 AM
Voters were lined up outside Liberty Baptist Church in northeast Fayette County before 7 a.m. waiting for the polls to open this morning. Shortly after 9 a.m. 120 people had already voted out of 2,147 registered voters who live in the voting district, precinct manager JoAnn Bailey said.
“We’ve had steady turnout,” Bailey said, adding that she expects another rush at lunchtime and at the end of the work day.
Bailey said voters approached the electronic voting machines with trepidation, much like a child anticipates getting a vaccination shot at the doctor’s office. But they realized their fear of the machine was over nothing, she said.
“They love these machines,” Bailey said. “They just love them!”
Fayette reporter Rochelle Carter
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
What they’re saying at the polls
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 10:50 AM
Will Terpening, 27, of the Kirkwood neighborhood in Atlanta, said he voted in the Democrat primary for John Kerry.
Terpening said he voted Bush in the last election.
“I was a Democrat and I swung over to vote for Bush. I’ll never make that mistake with that party again,” he said.
Terpening said Kerry seems to know important issues.
” I think he has a more responsible view of foreign relations, which is my main concern about George Bush.”
He voted for the new flag.
“I just felt like it is a more assertive symbol,” he said. “To me a flag should not be a history lesson. It should be a part of history. It should be an artifact.”
On electronic voting, he said, “I think it’s great. It’s easy to use; it’s a lot more voter friendly.”
Metro reporter Jill Young Miller
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Flat Shoals voting steady
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 10:46 AM
At the YMCA on Flat Shoals road in Decatur about 130 people had voted as of about 10 a.m. poll manager Viola Vaughen said.
She said turnout had been steady but not overwhelming. Vaughen said voters had no problem using the touch-screen voting machines.
Metro reporter Etan Horowitz
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Glitch in Fulton flagged
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 10:17 AM
Glitches were reported in Fulton County, where some of the electronic voting machines would allow voters to only cast ballots on the nonbinding state flag referendum, but not in presidential primary.
“We had machine problems when we first started,” said John H. Watson, poll manager at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street.
“Wouldn’t anything turn up on the computers, nothing but the flag,” Watson said.
He said the glitch was remedied after a call to the elections office, and only two of the approximately 90 voters to cast ballots by 10 a.m. encountered the problem.
Metro reporter Mike Morris
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Early turnout is steady
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 08:57 AM
Poll managers at several metro Atlanta precincts reported a steady stream of voters during the early stages of Tuesday’s presidential primary.
Voting at DeKalb’s Little Five Points Community Center had been “really, really steady,” during the first hour and a half, said assistant poll manager Jackie Grier.
Grier said about 20 voters were waiting when the doors opened.
“Usually, on a presidential election in November, we see a pretty good turnout, but for this to be March, it’s real good,” Grier said.
At Morris Brandon Elementary School in northwest Atlanta, 10 voters were in line when the polls opened at 7 a.m., and about 40 people cast ballots during the first hour, said poll manager Jarvis King.
“Our precinct is a precinct in which the constituents generally come out and vote, so for us, this is kind of normal,” King said.
At Medlock Elementary School in DeKalb, 46 Democrat and four Republican ballots had been voted by 7:30, according to Patricia Warren, the poll manager.
She said the precinct traditionally has a higher then average turnout.
Warren said there were some initial problems with the access cards for the voting machines. She said that two or three times, the machine wouldn’t take the card because it wasn’t encoded.
By 7:30, she said the problem had been worked out.
At Cobb County’s Hollydale precinct, 100 out of 2,200 voters had cast ballots by 8:30 a.m.
Poll manager Jerrie Davis said that no one had reported any problems with the voting machines there.
“Everybody’s just as happy as they can be — no questions. They’ve done great,” he said.
While light rain was falling in Lawrenceville, Cartersville and Gainesville when the polls opened at 7 a.m., dry conditions prevailed over most of the state.
However, the election day forecast calls for 40 to 60 percent chance of showers across the northern half of the state.
— Metro reporters Mike Morris, Bill Montgomery and Doug Payne
Permalink | Categories: Super Tuesday
Electronic elections, almost
Posted at: Tuesday, March 2, 2004, 08:33 AM
Nine people lined up at Midvale Elementary School in Tucker before polls opened at 7 a.m., much to the surprise of poll workers, who were still setting up.
But while voting is electronic, the process of getting a ballot is still done by hand. So when the polling place opened, the congestion was, well, not as bad as the outer Perimeter at rush hour, but almost (well, at least it seemed that way at 7 in the morning).
The initial bottleneck came at the first table, when voters had to fill out the form asking for their name, address and in which election they were voting. The second backup was in the line to verify that they were registered to vote so they can receive an electronic ballot card. In a fit of logic and optimism (and no doubt probability), there are two lines for such a purpose, one for voters whose last names start with A-K and another L-Z. Only thing was, nearly all the voters had last names starting with L-Z.
Still, the actual voting on the touchscreen computers was so fast it more than made up for the minor, upfront delays.
Permalink | Comments (106) | Categories: Super Tuesday
