Polls are now open in Gwinnett County and, if the line at one local precinct is any indication, turnout for Election Day 2016 could be very high.
Well over 100 people were lined up at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds in Lawrenceville even before it opened to voters at 7 a.m., clutching yellow sample ballots and huddling together as a chilly wind moved through.
Raheem Punjani was one of the first to cast his ballot. He declined to reveal who and what he voted for, but said he was surprised to see such a large turnout so early.
"We can't complain if we don't put our choice out there, you know what I mean?" he said.
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Gwinnett County spokesman Joe Sorenson said that, as of about 8:30 a.m., no major issues had been reported at any of the county's 156 polling places. One precinct, Ferguson Elementary school in Duluth, opened eight minutes late "due to a problem with equipment," Sorenson said.
Another, Sweetwater Middle School in Lawrenceville, opened 12 minutes late "due to a problem unlocking the polling units."
"The biggest issue today so far been people showing up at Elections HQ in Lawrenceville trying to vote," Sorenson said in an email. "This location is only a polling place during early voting. People can deliver their absentee ballots to Elections HQ in Lawrenceville, but all other voting must be done at a voter's regular polling place."
Polls throughout Gwinnett County will be open until 7 p.m., and residents are allowed to vote if they're in line by that time. Visit the Secretary of State's website to find your polling place.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that Gwinnett will be one of three counties in Georgia where it will deploy federal poll monitors, which are tasked with assuring compliance with federal voting laws. Fulton and Hancock counties will also have poll monitors Tuesday.
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Gwinnett County voters are, like the rest of the country, casting their ballots in the contentious presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Cliff Hunter, 44, voted for Trump.
"Our country has been trashed the last eight years," he said outside the fairgrounds precinct, calling Clinton a criminal. "It’s gotta change."
Suzette Anderson, 46, voted for Clinton.
"Donald Trump, the things that he says, I don’t think that he would be a qualified leader," she said. "I think that he is very, some of his views, they strike me as very…they have a very deep and negative impact on me."
There are also plenty of important local races to be decided in Gwinnett, too. Among them are two county commission seats; a 1-cent sales tax for road, construction and infrastructure projects; and Gov. Nathan Deal's Opportunity School District.
And while Tuesday's turnout is yet to be seen, more than 166,000 Gwinnett voters cast their ballots in advance of Tuesday's election — a total that more than doubled the county's previous record number of advance voters and represents more than 38 percent of the county's active registered voters.
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