FEARS loom ahead of the presidential election as voters were hit by chaos due to ballot shortages, malfunctions and two hour lines.
Voters in Georgia were outraged on Tuesday as many were left stranded in either the scorching heart or pouring rain.
Election watchers have warned it does bode well for the upcoming presidential election – with Georgia having a history of similar issues.
President Donald Trump and Joe Biden are expected to hotly contest the battleground state when the US goes to the polls on November 3.
Officials will have just five months to turn things around ahead of an election which has been quickly redefined by the death of George Floyd and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Campaigners have also said this is latest in a long line of voting issues that seem to impact predominately black communities.
Kristen Clarke, the president of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told Vice: “Georgia is a repeat offender when it comes to voter suppression efforts and actions to undermine voting rights.
“With political will, they can get this right, and my hope is that we use the lessons we take from today to ensure every voter who chooses to exercise their voice in the November general election is able to do so.”
Basketball legend LeBron James also blasted the voting system as “structurally racist” after the chaotic scenes unfolded.
Ballots were being cast in Georgia‘s Republican and Democratic primaries – which had been delayed due to the coronavirus – when the voting was hit by a meltdown.
Various issues left voters standing in line for hours and many were unable to cast their ballots.
Social-distancing precautions also led to even longer wait times, with many people being stuck outside.
Some precincts were closed due to a lack of officials, and others had limited numbers of staff amid measures to stop the spread of the virus.
Ballot shortages, mail-in ballots not arriving in time, broken voting machines and more all triggered outrage from voters.
Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, told The New York Times she had 84 text messages reporting voting problems just 10 minutes after polls opened at 7am.
Georgia’s Secretary of State Office has blamed poorly trained poll workers for the delays, while Georgia House speaker David Ralston called for an investigation.
Precinct workers however blamed malfunctioning equipment such as tablets used to scan voter identification.
Marilyn McGuire, a precinct manager at an Atlanta voting station, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the day had been a “disaster” – adding “this was supposed to be seamless, and today nothing is working”.
Trump’s campaign has blamed the problems on mail voting as the President continues to angrily rally against the practice – which he claims encourages voter fraud.
Campaign senior counsel Justin Clark said: “The chaos in Georgia is a direct result of the reduction in the number of in-person polling places and over reliance on mail-in voting.
“We have a duty to protect the constitutional rights of all of our citizens to vote in person and to have their votes counted.”
Biden’s campaign meanwhile said the voting problems in Georgia were a threat to free and fair elections – branding them “totally unacceptable”.
Rachana Desai Martin, the campaign’s national director for voter protection, said: “We only have a few months left until voters around the nation head to the polls again, and efforts should begin immediately to ensure that every Georgian – and every American – is able to safely exercise their right to vote.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms urged those standing in line to not give up.
She said: “If you are in line, PLEASE do not allow your vote to be suppressed.”
Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez also suggested the chaos was a targeted effort to suppress voters.
He said: “Republicans want to ensure that it is as hard as possible for people to vote.”
Aunna Dennis, the head of Common Cause Georgia, said: “If nothing changes… we’re going to see more voting barriers, more people turned away at the polls, we’re going to see a very ill-prepared Georgia for November.
“If we don’t get this ship on the right course, it’s going to implode.”
