As a trial run for the May 21 primary and November general elections, the March 12 presidential primary went encouragingly smoothly, Fulton County election officials said this week.
The Board of Registration & Elections met Monday to certify the election’s results. The board certified the Republican and Democratic primary results by 3-2 votes, with Republican members Julie Adams and Michael Heerin voting against.
Elections Director Nadine Williams said county election staff will hold an after-action meeting, as they do after every election, to discuss what went right or wrong. Meanwhile, planning for the May 21 primary continues “diligently,” she said.
Christine Propst, who said she helps manage Republican Party poll watchers, told the board that most poll managers were “very receptive” to observers this time, which she called a big improvement from the 2020 and 2022 elections.
“However, we continue to see a high number of equipment issues,” she said. Propst reported the failure of 15 voting machines, five poll pads and a few pieces of miscellaneous equipment.
Williams, responding to board chair Patrise Perkins-Hooker, said the election involved 3,000 voting machines and more than 800 poll pads.
“I can report that at no point did any voting stop,” she said. There were no delays and no one was prevented from voting, Williams said.
The county operated 36 early voting locations and 178 on Election Day itself, she said.
Adams pressed for more and earlier access to election data and the certification process, and urged that poll watchers be allowed closer to ballot counting.
The March 12 turnout of Fulton County’s active voters was just under 10%, according to county statistics and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. Former President Donald Trump took 59% of the 27,400 Republican primary votes, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley got 38%, with nine other candidates splitting the rest.
President Joe Biden received 96% of the 45,368 Democratic primary votes, with the remaining 4% split between U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson.
The county has budgeted $34 million for four elections this year: the March 12 presidential primary, May 21 partisan primary for other offices, possible runoffs needed after that election, and the Nov. 5 general election. Any runoffs needed following the general election are not in the budget, but are expected to be funded by any spending underruns from the previous elections.
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