On Election Day, “It’s Always Something”

I think it’s pretty much a guarantee that there sill be an issue with voting, ballots, or a precinct that mars Election Day for some number of voters. Typically, the screw up will occur in Fulton County, which is in a perpetual race with DeKalb County to see which one can report its election results later.

Our first snafu, though, comes in Gwinnett County, where the poll manager for the precinct voting at Iglesia Bautista Nuevo Jerusalem Baptist Church managed to lock the keys to the building inside the facility. Sadly, the manager was outside at the time, presumably putting out the “Vote Here” signs. It took he church pastor some time to get there with another set of keys, so voters will need to be line by 7:42 PM instead of 7 PM in order to cast a ballot.

The second screw up is in Fulton County, where Kristina Torres of the AJC says some voters got an improper ballot because aboudary lines changed separating House Districts 59 and 60. 42 voters ended up casting the wrong ballot before the Secretary of State’s office notified Fulton County elected officials there was a problem. The incident is reminiscent of a case near Albany earlier this year where a candidate for the state house qualified for the wrong district because of a similar error.

WHo’s to blame? Grant Thomas, who works in the Secretary of State’s office, is quick to defend his boss:

At the risk of sounding redundant, it is the county's responsibility to assign voters to correct district #gapol https://t.co/tGfkZgGfi4

— Grant Thomas (@G_Thomas23) May 24, 2016