Amid long lines, Georgia election set new one-day record of votes cast Friday
The final day of early voting ahead of next week’s Georgia Senate runoff was much like the first day, marked Friday by long lines at a number of voting locations and growing numbers.
In Fulton County, 17 of the 24 early voting locations reported wait times of more than an hour on Friday afternoon. It was more than two hours at Chastain Park Recreation Center in Atlanta just after 2 p.m., according to the county’s online wait times tracker. Fulton County said only voters would be allowed Friday at several libraries and a senior center that are serving as early voting locations.
Statewide, deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling said on Twitter that 324,200 votes had been cast statewide by 6:15 p.m. on Friday, on a pace that is already a new single-day record. “It is a record and we have time to build that number higher. Yes, we expected a record, but this is beyond what was expected. It’s BIG,” he said.
By 9:15 p.m. the one-day total had grown to 353,440. “That’s just an amazing number. Great job by the counties’ elections officials and voters,” Sterling said.
Voters were reported still in line at some voting places after 8 p.m. because voters who already in line when voting closed at 7 p.m. were allowed to stay until they were able cast a ballot. A voting place in Sandy Springs estimated a wait of 110 minutes, just under two hours, at 8:01 p.m.
Sterling said nearly 1.4 million had voted early as of Thursday night.
Voting precincts will be open statewide on Tuesday for a number of local runoffs and the closely watched Georgia Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.
Elsewhere in metro Atlanta earlier in the day:
- DeKalb County had nine voting locations with wait times of 30 to 60 minutes. Two, Emory University, Tucker Library and the former Sam’s Club in Stonecrest, were more than an hour.
- Cobb County’s longest reported wait at 3 p.m. Friday was the Smyrna Community Center, with a line of 40 minutes.
- In Gwinnett County, voters were waiting between more than an an hour at all locations at 3 p.m.
- In Clayton County, the longest wait was almost two hours at the Carl Rhodenizer Recreation Center in Rex.
- In Henry County, the wait was reported at 2 hours for the JP Moseley precinct in Stockbridge.
- A caution for voters: The wait times reported by county election sites are not automated, so the actual time a voter waits in line may be longer or shorter than what the website says.
Outside metro Atlanta:
- Wait times in Chatham County, which includes Savannah, were at least 60 minutes at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
This article will be updated.
Arvin Temkar, Henri Hollis, Tyler Estep and Pete Corson contributed to this article.
Metro Atlanta voting details
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Ponce library in Atlanta
One busy spot in Atlanta all day was the Joan P. Garner Library at Ponce de Leon. At 3:30 p.m. Friday, the last person in line was across the street from the Plaza Theatre, almost at North Highland Avenue.
About the Author
Brian O'Shea is a senior digital producer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He works with the newsroom to identify topics of interest to Atlanta readers and also works with voter guides and election results. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and The Ohio State University Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism.
