Voters trickled into Gwinnett County polling places slowly but steadily Tuesday morning.
Polls were not remarkably busy, but Summerour Middle School Poll Manager Steve Miller wasn’t surprised.
“For primaries, you don’t get a large turnout, but that’s pretty typical all around,” Miller said.
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Anthony Phillips was one of about a dozen voters who cast a ballot at Summerour between 8 and 9 a.m. He had intended to vote in the Democratic primary, but pulled a nonpartisan ballot, which only includes Gwinnett County judge races.
Phillips had been leaning towards voting for gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. He felt the Georgia House Minority Leader would bring balance to Georgia’s top elected office.
“Right now, I think we need more of a balance of political thought in Georgia,” Phillips said. “It’s been all Republican since forever. We could benefit from having a balance of both parties in state government.”
At Pinckneyville Park in Berkeley Lake, Robyn Clemons pulled the Democratic ballot and cast her vote for Abrams. Clemons felt that she and Abrams shared the same values and supported Abrams’ education policies.
Marc Mager, another Pinckneyville Park voter, cast his ballot for Casey Cagle, citing the lieutenant governor’s extensive government experience as a key qualifier. It was “absolutely” an easy decision to choose Cagle from the field of five candidates, Mager said.
Turnout was light at Pinckneyville Park compared to a general election, poll manager Gary Weiss said. In November 2016, nearly 200 people were lined up before the polls opened at 7 a.m. On Tuesday morning, fewer than 10 were lined up before the doors opened, and 73 people had cast their ballot before 9:30 a.m.
Weiss expected a surge of voters during the lunch hour and then a “lull” until around 4:30 p.m., when many people get off work.
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