Elections officials in three metro Atlanta counties worked to resolve issues at various polling locations Monday, the first day of early voting for the May 24 primaries.
In DeKalb County, approximately 6,800 voters were initially assigned to incorrect County Commission districts. Affected DeKalb voters are in the Avondale High, Northlake, Rehoboth, Glennwood, and Winnona Park precincts.
Those voters were able to cast ballots for their correct races when they showed up at early voting locations Monday, according to county election officials.
“This discrepancy in precinct assignments was caused by a misalignment between the state legislative process and the Secretary of State’s redistricting timeline for county elections offices,” Dele Lowman Smith, chair of DeKalb’s Board of Registration & Elections, said in a press release.
Affected voters will be notified by mail and provided a corrected precinct card.
Additionally, 99 affected voters have already requested absentee ballots. Those ballots will be canceled and new ballots issued, elections officials said. There is no additional action required on the part of voters except to submit the corrected ballots.
A similar issue arose in Cobb County, where some early voters received incorrect ballots when they arrived at their precinct. A temporary solution is now in place, said Janine Eveler, director of Cobb County Elections & Registration.
Eveler said officials discovered the Secretary of State’s office didn’t upload the latest ballot information into voter check-in computers that create the ballot card. Replacement equipment was expected to be delivered later Monday.
In the meantime, poll workers are manually “bringing up the correct ballot” for voters on the touchscreen ballot marking device, Eveler said.
“It is a little slower, but it will be correct until we get new (poll pads) from the vendor,” she added.
Fulton County also reported temporary problems operating voting machinery, Regina Waller, a Fulton County senior public information officer said.
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