Thousands of voters turned out for the first widespread Sunday voting in Georgia’s history, with lines reported in several of the 11 participating counties.
DeKalb, Fulton, Athens-Clarke, Chatham and Floyd counties all experienced heavy demand during at least part of the day, with reports in at least some locations of residents lining up at least a half-hour before polls opened.
Election offices in Clayton, Dougherty, Liberty, Lowndes, McDuffie and Richmond counties also opened Sunday for voting. Richmond reported a turnout of 497 voters (compared with 265 voters on Thursday).
Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron reported 3,880 voters by 4:55 p.m. — five minutes before closing. In DeKalb, elections officials had a tally of 3,888.
Turnout overall seemed steady, although an official tally statewide will not be available until Monday.
Voters who came out seemed to experience few problems, with anecdotal evidence of only minor glitches.
At the Northside Library polling place in Atlanta’s Buckhead area, for instance, apologetic poll workers spent at least some of the afternoon having to call their central Fulton office to confirm voting identification because the site’s computerized verification system was down. The problem did not, however, affect the use of voting machines, and the steady stream of voters waiting inside seemed to take it in stride.
“I meant to come during the week but kept putting it off,” nearby resident Ellen Welsh said as she walked in. A reminder during the morning’s church service that polls would be open prompted the quick trip down the road. Asked whether she’d like the option of Sunday voting in future elections, Welsh had one word: “Definitely.”
At DeKalb’s Chamblee Civic Center, “we heard on Friday that we would be expecting a big turnout at this location,” poll manager Billie Sherrod said. “Everyone is glad to be here, the line is moving quickly and there’s good weather to stand in.”
Many voters applauded the convenience of Sunday voting, including Bonnie Sharpe, who voted at the Milton Center in Alpharetta.
“This was nice,” Sharpe said. “It was convenient and the best voting experience I’ve ever had.”
Work schedules, traffic and other commitments can interfere with voting at other times during the week, said Melanie Ligon, who cast her ballot at the Roswell Library. “I think everyone has the right to vote and not have it be cumbersome,” Ligon said. “If you’re a working person, employers sometimes frown on it when you ask to take off.”
Randy Kulamer, an auto parts distributor, knows all about the difficulties work schedules can have on voting: “I have hourly employees, and it’s hard for them to take off during the week,” he said.
While Georgia’s election laws only mandate at least one Saturday voting day during the 21-day early-voting period, it wasn’t until this year that some local officials decided to try Sundays. Fulton was the only county that also held Sunday voting last week, with a turnout of 1,507.
This week, Tawanna and Greg Seals arrived just after a polling location at the South DeKalb Mall opened at noon — only to find more than 100 people already waiting in line. Both said busy work schedules and Saturday errands involving their three children usually kept them from taking advantage of early voting. Sunday, however, “is the one day we have free,” Tawanna Seals said.
Coordinated efforts by a number of churches and civil rights groups to help parishioners get to nearby polling sites also may have boosted the day’s numbers. In Chatham County, for example, the Savannah branch of the NAACP promoted a “Souls to the Polls” effort.
With the Nov. 4 general election rapidly approaching, Democrats across Georgia also made a show Sunday of embracing the day’s voters, including appearances by former first lady Rosalynn Carter at both DeKalb and Fulton polling sites.
The effort contrasted with the Georgia GOP, which instead promoted a statewide “Super Saturday” that included rallies by candidates and a 50,000-door canvassing effort.
Other groups, including the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, opted instead Sunday to help distribute voting guides at area churches — an effort the group, which is based in Duluth, expects to repeat next Sunday.
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