Georgia election officials report high turnout, short lines

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said polling places are seeing high turnout, but that doesn’t mean voters are experiencing much of a wait.

Speaking at the state’s elections operations center, Raffensperger said wait times in Georgia polling places were about two minutes Tuesday afternoon.

“Some people can’t believe the turnout is so strong because you’re not seeing any of these long lines,” Raffensperger said. “It’s just been tremendously smooth.”

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported high turnout and short lines Tuesday afternoon.

Credit: Mark Niesse

icon to expand image

Credit: Mark Niesse

County election officials were told to prepare for two million Election Day voters, on top of the 2.5 million voters that already cast their ballots during three weeks of early voting.

Raffensperger said lines moved fast because election officials ensured that each precinct had enough check-in stations, voting touchscreens and scanners to accommodate their number of registered voters.

Voter processing times at check-in stations were just 49 seconds, Raffensperger said.

While election officials are vigilant about threats, none has been reported. The secretary of state’s office started a text messaging line that poll workers could use to report problems to law enforcement, but no one had used it yet.