Expanding early voting
Some Metro Atlanta counties are expanding early voting in anticipation of a busy election year. This chart shows the total number of early voting hours planned this year vs. 2012. The total hours is the sum of hours offered at all early voting locations. For example, a county that offered eight hours of voting a day at two locations would have a total of 16 hours for each day, while a county that offered 12 hours of voting at three locations would provide 36 hours.
County 2012 hours 2016 hours %Increase
Cobb* 326 638 95.7%
DeKalb 2,064 2,844 37.8%
Fulton 1,929 15,024 678%
Gwinnett 1,110 1,807 62.8%
The hours shown are for the presidential primary, the May general primary and the November general election, except for Cobb County, which provided information only on the presidential primary.*
SOURCE: County election departments
As Georgia prepares for the upcoming presidential election, some metro Atlanta counties have substantially expanded opportunities for voters to cast their ballots early.
Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties have added early voting sites. Gwinnett also has expanded early voting hours since the last presidential election. Fulton — which has a history of Election Day foul-ups — has gone from a handful of early voting sites to 24 and has expanded hours to boot.
Election officials hope more access to early voting will ease long lines and frustration on Election Day. Though early voting for the primary starts Monday, the real test will come in November, when election officials expect a big turnout.
But don’t expect miracles. With the presidency and a host of state and local offices up for grabs this fall, election officials say voters likely will still need some patience when they go to cast their ballots in November.
“We know there’s going to be lines,” said Gwinnett Elections Director Lynn Ledford. “We just know it’s going to be a big year.”
State law limits the early voting period to 21 days. But local governments are free to set their own hours and determine how many polling locations to open for early voting.
Gwinnett will have early voting at eight locations throughout the county in three elections this year: the presidential primary in March, the general primary in May and the November general election. The county also has expanded hours.
Some residents say it’s not enough. Lawrenceville resident Donna McLeod said many working people find it hard to make it to the polls on Election Day. Early voting is convenient, she said.
Meanwhile, Fulton will have 24 locations during the primaries and 30 for the general election. That’s up from three locations in the primaries and six in the general election in 2012. The county also has expanded hours.
It’s no accident Fulton will offer more early voting. It’s an attempt to address a history of Election Day problems.
Last year, the county agreed to pay $180,000 in civil penalties and investigation costs and make numerous improvements to correct problems that occurred during elections in 2008 and 2012. Among other things, the county has expanded early voting to take pressure off the polls on Election Day.
Election Director Rick Barron hopes 72 percent of voters will choose to come to the polls early – twice as many as did in 2012. But that will require changing the behavior of voters who are used to chatting with their neighbors at polling places and wearing their “I’m a Georgia voter” sticker on Election Day.
If they vote early, Barron said, people will see how much more convenient it is.
“On Election Day, you have no flexibility,” he said. “I see no advantages to Election Day voting vs. early voting.”
Early voting isn’t cheap. Including possible overtime pay for employees, Fulton has budgeted $706,184 for early voting in the presidential primary alone. Barron thinks it’s worth it.
“If you don’t have enough people early, all those people flow in Election Day,” he said. “If 50 to 70 percent of voters are voting early, Election Day isn’t so chaotic.”
At times, early voting has generated controversy. In 2011, the General Assembly cut early voting in Georgia from 45 to 21 days. The measure was billed as a way to save money, though some Democrats have suggested it was designed to discourage voting by minorities, who, according to some studies, are more likely to take advantage of early voting. In 2014, DeKalb, Fulton and other counties began offering early voting on Sundays – a move Democrats saw as a way to boost turnout and some Republicans saw as a threat.
But the early voting debate appears to have subsided. Last year, a bill that would have cut early voting to 12 days failed to pass the General Assembly.
Rep. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville, a co-sponsor of the bill, said he’s changed his mind about scaling back early voting. He said Republicans as well as Democrats like it.
“It’s become pretty popular in my district,” Brockway said.
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