Almost everyone seems to agree that Tuesday’s primary election was “unacceptable” and “a failure” as voters in at least two of Georgia’s most populous counties waited in long lines, were told they had already voted by absentee ballot and encountered new voting machines that did not work correctly. But they disagree on who is to blame, and the questions left many — including top state officials — calling for an investigation and an apology.
State House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) was the first to call for answers yesterday when he directed Chairman Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire) and the House Governmental Affairs Committee to probe irregularities, particularly in Fulton County.
“We are hearing anecdotes from around the state – particularly in Fulton County – this morning of unacceptable deficiencies: poll workers not being properly trained, voting equipment not working and absentee ballots not being received among other issues,” the speaker said. “Our poll workers give of their time to serve Georgians, and they do not deserve to be blamed for systemic problems beyond their control.”
Ralston’s remarks came after Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger released the following statement, “The voting situation today in certain precincts in Fulton and Dekalb counties is unacceptable. My office has opened an investigation to determine what these counties need to do to resolve these issues before November’s election. Obviously, the first time a new voting system is used there is going to be a learning curve and voting in a pandemic only increased these difficulties. But every other county faced these same issues and were significantly better prepared to respond so that voters had every opportunity to vote.”
Placing the blame on poll workers and county elections officials did not sit well with many who heard Raffensperger’s remarks. Many seemed dismayed by the response and suggested that Raffensperger should take the blame as the state’s top elections official.
Soon after the comments by Raffensperger, former Congressman Lynn Westmoreland tweeted: “Secretary of State’s office blames counties’ ‘poor planning’ for poll issues. If you can’t fix the problem, fix the blame. How’s that absentee ballot request working out for you.” Westmoreland later told InsiderAdvantage, “My point being is when you are in charge of elections or anything else, don’t pass the blame on. Take the responsibility.”
He went on to say that while he was waving signs for his daughter Marcy Sakrison — who was running for a state House seat– several people stopped and complained that they couldn’t vote because “something was in the system saying they had already voted or they had applied for an absentee ballot. There was a lot of confusion today.”
Common Cause Georgia, a liberal non-profit, came out strong against Raffensperger. Aunna Dennis, Executive Director of Common Cause Georgia said, “The obstacles that Georgia’s voters have faced in this election are simply unacceptable. It’s also unacceptable that the officials entrusted with administering the elections have spent the day dodging blame, rather than accepting responsibility.”
The statement went on to say, “We also call for the problems to be fixed, immediately. There are only two months before the next set of elections in Georgia. There are only five months until the general elections, which will almost certainly see record turnout.” They also called on the Secretary of State to form a Task Force.
State Democratic and Republican party leaders also spoke out. Stewart Bragg, Executive Director of the Georgia GOP, cited “incompetence” that “will effectively disenfranchise countless eligible voters across Georgia’s largest county. Georgia voters deserve better from their public servants.” Maggie Chambers, state Democratic Party spokeswoman, said, “The Secretary of State’s job is to provide adequate support and training for counties as he implemented Georgia’s new voting system, and he has failed.”
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond also spoke out:
“The Secretary of State’s office has alleged these issues resulted from a failure of county leadership. If there was a failure of leadership, it starts where the buck should stop, at the top. The eradication of any ‘learning curve’ rests squarely at the feet of the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his office. Therefore, I am calling on Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, and Speaker David Ralston to immediately launch a comprehensive, top-to-bottom investigation into voting issues, including the Secretary of State’s preparation for and administration of this election.”
Late yesterday the Secretary of State’s Voting Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling fired back: “That the DeKalb County CEO doesn’t seem to know that training poll workers and equipping polling places is a responsibility that Georgia law places squarely on the county goes a long way to explain the issues that we saw today in DeKalb.”
Sterling cited state code 21-2-70, then added, “The Secretary of State’s Office is tasked with providing training to the superintendents, who then train their poll workers and election officials. The fact that the egregious issues we are seeing seem to be limited to a few precincts in a couple of counties suggest that the breakdown occurred at the county level. The other 157 counties faced the same difficulties of using a new system and voting during a pandemic, but they seem to have handled the issues that arose diligently and efficiently.”
Voting hours were extended in Fulton, Cobb and DeKalb counties because of the problems encountered.
