This browser does not support the Video element.
Controversy surrounding a state Senate race in Georgia
Accusations of voter suppression has surfaced in the 39th district state race.
ATLANTA - Two Georgia senate candidates are outraged that their race is not on the ballot.
Zan Fort is a candidate for the Georgia Senate 39th District seat that his father once held.
He and candidate Linda Prichett are livid to learn their race is not on the General Election ballot and voters have to ask for a Democratic Primary ballot to vote in their race.
"Plain and simple it should have been on the ballot as normal. No one should have to ask. It is a tactic of voter suppression that has been used for decades," Fort said.
“For us as candidates to reach 170,000 people at the very last minute in the middle of an election that is already underway...it is outrageous and it is nothing more than disenfranchisement," Linda Pritchett observed.
Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts
Voter Jackson Marks cast his ballot Monday at the Northside Library. He said his ballot did not include the Senate race and when he asked poll workers about it, they were clueless.
"I asked the poll workers...there is something wrong here, why is this missing? At first they thought it was an I.T. issue. They were not told about the special Democratic Primary Election. They were obvious, the Georgia State University student said.
When FOX 5 asked Marks how he interprets the situation, he responded, "It gives me mistrust. I don't like the idea that I have to push to vote in all the elections. Voter suppression is a good way to describe it."
Spokesperson Walter Jones with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office responded with the following:
"SD 39 is Democratic Primary Special election. The General Election in November. Ask the candidates if they really want Republicans to vote in their Democratic Special Election.”
Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.