Insanely High Turnout Reveals Voting Problems Across The Country — Here's What's Going On
Very high turnout at polling places across the country this Election Day has revealed unfortunate flaws in states' voting systems. Here are a few of the problems that voters have faced in they attempt to cast ballots in the midterm election. We'll be updating this page as more issues come to light.
Georgians Have Experienced Broken (And Unplugged) Voting Machines And Long Lines
Georgia, you may recall, is the site of a high-profile, neck-and-neck governor race between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp — who is also, in a pretty clear conflict of interest, the state's chief election officer.
Another polling place in Atlanta offered only three voting machines for hundreds of voters.
And another polling place in Georgia was plagued by the problem of… voting machines that weren't plugged in.
According to Sarah Henderson of Common Cause Georgia, the average wait time for voters in the Atlanta area was about 3 hours earlier this afternoon.
Poll Workers Were Completely Unprepared And Struggled To Find A Voting Machine At One Polling Place In Detroit
In a shocking display of incompetence, one precinct in Detroit did not have a single voting machine ready for voters when polls opened at 7 AM. It took poll workers an hour and a half to find a machine and get it ready for voters, according to Detroit WXYZ:
Simply put, some voters were turned away while others were unable to vote for an hour and a half. Chris Morris said he showed up to find election workers struggling to find a voting machine.
Officials said there was a miscommunication about where the machine was located in the school. After learning it was in a locked closet, workers said they were left with no key to open the door.
Voters say they were initially told to go to the precinct across the street, though that was incorrect information.
In Arizona, One Polling Place Was Foreclosed On Overnight, Leaving Voters Waiting Outside
An overnight foreclosure took election officials by surprise in Arizona.
Maricopa County election officials say a polling site in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler is not operating.
County Recorder Adrian Fontes told KTVK-TV that poll workers were trying to set up in the parking lot of the Golf Academy of America, which had been foreclosed on overnight Tuesday.
Another polling place in Gilbert, Arizona was locked by its owners, and poll workers scrambled to open another polling place, according to the State.
Broken Scanners In New York City Contributed To Long Lines
Nonfunctioning scanners were reported at several polling locations in NYC. Combined with high turnout, this development led to very long lines at some polling places (including in some Digg editors' districts). The scanners were apparently ill-prepared for a two-page ballot in this year's election.
Voters reported that scanners were down at Public School 165 on the Upper West Side, Queens Library at Peninsula in Rockaway Beach and Church of the Holy Trinity on the Upper East Side, among other places.
"I've voted in every election since I turned 19 in 2003, and never have I had such a hard time voting," Elizabeth Goetz of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, wrote in an email. "No signage, super long lines, chaos, not enough ballot sleeves or privacy booths, and worst of all, four out of four scanning machines were down at P.S. 22."
In response to the turmoil, the speaker of NYC's city council urged the executive director of the city's board of elections to resign.
One Voter Was Subjected To A Racist Harangue By A Poll Worker In Houston
In Texas — which, unlike New York, offers early voting — voters faced long lines and technical difficulties even at locations that had already accepted ballots from early voters, according to the Houston Chronicle. And one black voter in Houston named Rolanda Anthony was subjected to a racist harangue by an assistant election judge named Juanita Barnes.
"If I were to wear my blackface make up, maybe you would understand what I'm telling you," Barnes said to Anthony. Barnes is white and Anthony is black.
Anthony says she tried to walk away at that point but Barnes followed her through the polling place and kept yelling at her. Anthony told her she was calling the police. Anthony said Barnes then threatened her saying the police would arrest Anthony because she's black.
Meanwhile, a voter in Dallas County was reportedly told by an election official that his provisional ballot would be thrown in the trash.
Texas has experienced other apparent attempts at voter suppression, too. Yesterday, US Border Patrol announced a "crowd control exercise" to take place Tuesday near a Hispanic neighborhood in El Paso, Texas. Today, the agency abruptly postponed the exercise following outcry from activists, public officials and the ACLU, according to the Washington Post.
Polling Sites In Indianapolis Didn't Open On Time
Voters who wanted to vote as soon as the polls opened at 6 AM were kept waiting by unprepared poll workers and machines that hadn't been set up yet.
