When it comes to election news originating in our influential state, we’d rather national headlines be about the results -- and not the process.
As Georgia, the nation and a watching world as of this writing await final results from Tuesday’s consequential elections, we are thankful that this state’s voting apparatus appeared, mostly, up to the heavy task required of it.
For sure, there were problems. Some electronic devices malfunctioned at polling places around the state. A water pipe blowout delayed vote-counting in Georgia’s largest county.
Thankfully, taken as a whole, the problems were isolated, which meant they amounted to more of an inconvenience than a large-scale meltdown.
All of that meant that the chief anxiety now centers around just when the vote-counting will officially be done and announced to the world. Georgians awoke Wednesday to some 236,000 absentee ballots still to be counted. Elections officials hoped that job would be completed by Wednesday evening.
We believe that achieving a proper, thorough and accurate count of votes should take precedence over haste and possible numerical errors that a too-fast tabulation could entail. That’s especially important given the deep partisan divisions in Georgia and the U.S. at this point, and the mistrust of government that they fuel. Take the time and get it right for the sake of a stressed democracy, we believe.
Despite official assurances in advance that the mechanics of logging and tabulating votes would work well in the Peach State, there were ample reasons for skepticism and worry.
For starters, this was not a typical election, if there is such a thing. Not at all. An unprecedented set of circumstances loomed, threatening the smooth functioning of election processes.
A record number of voters cast ballots using multiple methods. That meant election workers had to deal with higher-than-usual numbers of voters submitting absentee ballots returned either by a struggling postal service or dropped off directly in ballot collection boxes. As of Friday, some 4 million Georgians had voted early, either in-person or by absentee ballot. And officials had expected perhaps a record turnout for in-person voting on Tuesday, although that day’s turnout now seems lower than anticipated.
The current state of our nation no doubt influenced the high participation in Georgia and elsewhere. Aside from the usual political divisions, Americans are dealing with the significant cost and risk of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on our lifestyles, personal finances and the broader economy. Those concerns were on voters' minds and no doubt boosted voting numbers.
Against all of those factors and wild cards, we’re pleased that, on the whole, Georgia’s voting system seemed to have functioned reasonably well in most places on Tuesday.
The significant problems and delays seen during the primary and the 2018 election didn’t seem to have reappeared Tuesday. By day’s end, average wait times at polling places across Georgia were about 2 minutes, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Two of Georgia’s largest counties, Gwinnett and Fulton, were notably the site of troubles in counting absentee ballots. That’s significant, given that, combined, they are home to nearly 1 of every 5 Georgians.
A broken water pipe at State Farm Arena also delayed Fulton’s processing of absentee ballots. The county’s performance initially drew the ire Tuesday night of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has been critical of Fulton’s handling of elections, given continuing – and continually unacceptable -- problems that have come to be expected there.
Politics aside, concerns remain about Fulton’s ability to adequately run elections. It appears the county’s elections system is not yet operating at the level that should be expected of such a large, important county.
Overall in Georgia, even given the perhaps-inevitable glitches, things appeared to have gone far more smoothly than the meltdowns seen during previous elections. After the June primary debacle, we wrote in an editorial that “The election process -- what should be a near-sacred ritual of this Republic -- quickly devolved into what national and local commentators called, with ample justification, a hot mess.”
We went on to urge that “Georgia must do much better when the next election comes.”
We’re pleased that, scattered mishaps aside, Georgia and county elections officials seem to have worked hard to make that happen.
The Editorial Board.
