Early voting ends today

Today is the final day for early and advance voting in Georgia. Reports of long lines have continued to come in from some parts of the state. Some voters at one Atlanta location waited until nearly 10:30 last night to cast their ballots. The Secretary of State’s office says computer problems were to blame--trouble with the machines connecting to the state’s voting system. State elections officials say this was an isolated case, and most polling locations across Georgia were running smoothly yesterday. An update of early voting numbers as of yesterday from the Secretary of State’s office: more than 1.5 million ballots have been cast early, from a pool of almost 5.6 million registered Georgians.

No changes to early voting schedule

As early--and now advance voting--continues throughout the state, Georgians have experienced long lines to cast ballots in several counties. The crush at polling locations has prompted the state Democratic Party to call on Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel to extend polling hours, and keep polls open through the weekend. Handel says that cannot happen as state law does not provide for weekend voting, or provide for voting the day before Election Day. Handel says county officials will be busy through the weekend preparing for Tuesday’s expected flood of voters.

Advance voting could ease long lines

Today marks the beginning of advance voting week in Georgia. Registered voters will have more polling locations open in every county to cast ballots throughout the week, with many locations open until 7pm. Several counties have experienced heavy voter volume and long lines--Gwinnett County as example has reported lines as long as three hours or more during the early voting period which has been ongoing. Updated numbers from the Secretary of State's website show more than a million registered Georgians have already cast ballots in early voting. The general election is eight days away.