AVOID LINES: Fulton now posting early voting wait times online

Eager Georgia voters swarmed to polling places Monday morning, waiting in lines created by high turnout and technical problems at the start of three weeks of early voting before Election Day. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com).

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Eager Georgia voters swarmed to polling places Monday morning, waiting in lines created by high turnout and technical problems at the start of three weeks of early voting before Election Day. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com).

UPDATE: It appeared Thursday afternoon that the online tracker was temporarily down due to a technical problem. Per a county spokeswoman: “Earlier today there was a major internet outage that has affected the tracking tool. They are working to get it up & running again.”

Halfway through the first week of a record-breaking early voting week, Fulton County is now posting the live wait times for its polling sites.

Fulton joins Cobb and Gwinnett counties as places were voters can use this vital information to decide when to leave home during the 19 days of early voting. This capability is especially important for those looking to avoid crowds because of COVID-19 fears.

RELATED: Find early voting information for more metro Atlanta counties

Fulton elections director Richard Barron said Tuesday that the software was being tested and was expected to go live in the next few days. He did not give a cost for the tool.

Long lines have already been a feature of this election, which is expected to shatter turnout records locally and nationwide.

Voters have lots of options: Fulton has more early voting sites than Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties combined. This decision came out of a rough June 9 election season that had too few early and day-of voting sites, in large part because locations dropped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county publicized the new tool Thursday morning. Around 11:30 a.m., the map showed two precincts — both in North Fulton — with waits of more than an hour and 20 sites where voters would wait less than 30 minutes.

View the live wait times here: http://fulcogis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/6ec69e7c9eb84b31865fb2a71f4ba667.

How to make sure you’re ready to vote in the 2020 election

About the Author