More than 12,000 ballots had been received by the Gwinnett County Board of Voter Registration and Elections before the third day of in-person early voting had ended, county spokesman Joe Sorenson said.
The county received 12,827 ballots by the end of the day Wednesday, about 45 percent of the 28,860 that have been issued for absentee by mail, advance in person, military and overseas voting.
Wait times reached an hour on Tuesday, but didn't exceed 30 minutes on Wednesday, according to the county's website. The county is providing real-time wait times online through the early voting period.
READ | How long is the wait to vote early in Gwinnett? Here's how to check
MORE | How to early vote for midterm, governor elections in Gwinnett
By 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, the line at the Voter Registration and Elections Office in Lawrenceville was virtually non-existent. A slow but steady stream of voters snaked through the maze of metal barriers to cast a ballot in person or pick up a mail-in absentee ballot.
Beverly Baldwin took advantage of the short line and picked up an absentee ballot on the way home from work Wednesday night. In the past few years, she’s made a habit of researching every candidate and question on the ballot before voting to ensure she’s making the most informed decision possible.
“I’m always well aware of who I’m voting for in the primaries, but when it comes to local offices, I don’t always know a lot beforehand,” Baldwin said. “While I lean more toward the Democrats, it’s not just that, it’s what each person represents.”
The research she does usually takes a few days, but enables her to choose the best candidates “by process of elimination,” she said. She’s started encouraging friends to do the same.
“I’ve come to the realization that it’s important to know who you’re voting for in all of these races,” Baldwin said.
While she hasn’t committed to any candidate yet, Baldwin felt particularly excited about the governor’s race. She’s leaning towards Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.
“She appears to be working towards things that are important to me: Medicare expansion, healthcare, education,” Baldwin said.
Paige Jones also stopped by the voting office on her way home, but she cast her ballot in person. Living in Gwinnett but teaching in another county, Jones wanted to ensure she had the chance to cast her vote for Brian Kemp, the Republican candidate for governor.
“I believe we need to continue with conservative values,” said Jones, who also supported Kemp in the Republican primary. “The Republican party demonstrates more limited government than the Democratic party.”
Debra King has been a poll worker for nearly her entire adult life. She has to vote early or else she won’t get to vote at all, so she chose to fill out her ballot Wednesday.
King, a “staunch conservative,” was excited to vote for Kemp. She agrees with the candidate’s stances on “everything, practically.”
“He’s trying to save our country,” King said. “Everything is totally foreign to me now compared to when I was growing up. I hope he’ll get rid of the crime, get rid of the gangs, make it safe to walk around in your own neighborhood again.”
Jamell Cottrell saw early voting as an opportunity to get another thing off her to-do list. She was excited to vote for Stacey Abrams, who she hopes will bring a “change” to Georgia government.
“I believe in getting behind her. I believe in change. It’s time for Georgia to have a change,” Cottrell said. “We have to come up from a government that only sees things one way. She will be more caring to the cries of people looking for justice.”
Cottrell particularly liked that Abrams came from a modest background, saying it made Abrams more likely to understand what working people in Georgia are going through.
“She doesn’t come from a prestigious background, unlike some of the candidates we’ve had in the past,” Cottrell said. “She could understand what people need, what schools need.”
Cottrell was concerned about the possibility of voter suppression or irregularities with the voting process, citing Republican candidate Kemp's current role as secretary of state. Kemp and Gwinnett County have been sued over what civil rights groups and voting advocates have called an "excessive rejection" of absentee ballots. Gwinnett County had rejected about 8.5 percent of absentee ballots as of Oct. 14 and more than 53,000 voter registrations were in limbo due to to Georgia's "exact match" law, which requires voter registration information to match that on driver's licenses, Social Security cards or state ID cards.
“I hope it’s a fair outcome for everyone. I hope there’s nothing underhanded with the ballots.”
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