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DeKalb County ballot scanner overwhelmed by record voter turnout

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Published  November 2, 2024 12:09am EDT
DeKalb County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Voter raises questions over delayed ballot scanning

High voter turnout at a polling location in DeKalb County caused one of the ballot scanners to exceed its capacity. That meant dozens of ballots could not being scanned right away.

The Brief

    • High voter turnout led to a ballot scanner at the North DeKalb Senior Center reaching its 10,000-ballot capacity and stopping operation.
    • Voters, including Monica Bosco, were instructed to place their completed ballots in an unlocked emergency bin when the scanner failed.
    • The DeKalb County Board of Elections deployed a new scanner about an hour and a half later, and ballots were processed in line with state guidelines.
    • To ensure transparency, the ballot scanning process was made public, allowing voters like Bosco to observe the counting for reassurance.
    • The Georgia Secretary of State's Office acknowledged the unusual situation but confirmed proper procedures were in place and had been followed for such instances.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - High voter turnout at a polling location in DeKalb County caused one of the ballot scanners to exceed its capacity. That meant dozens of ballots could not be scanned right away. 

When Monica Bosco cast her ballot here at the North DeKalb Senior Center on Thursday, she knew something was not right. 

"We're in a very tense election, there's so much at stake," said Bosco. 

Bosco said after making her decisions on whom to vote for, she took her printed ballot to be scanned, but the scanner wasn't working. She says she was told to lay it on a stack of other ballots that were in a bin. 

"It was sitting in a pile that anyone could access in that little bin," said Bosco. 

Bosco says at the time the bin was not locked. She questioned the poll worker and was told the scanner had exceeded capacity and they were waiting on another machine. 

She says she wished they had informed her of that before she voted. 

"They didn't tell me the machine had exceeded capacity. They didn't tell me I had a choice of waiting for another machine or leaving and coming back later," said Bosco. 

A spokesman from the DeKalb County Board of Elections sent the following statement to FOX 5: 

"Due to a record-setting turnout during advance voting, one of our scanners being used at the North DeKalb Senior Center (on Oct. 31) Reached its 10,000-ballot capacity. As a result, we had to deploy a new scanner, which arrived approximately an hour and a half after the initial scanner reached its capacity. 

"Electors placed their ballots securely in the emergency bin until the new scanner arrived.  In the presence of some of those voters and observed by several poll watchers, the 86 ballots were removed from the emergency bin and processed in the replacement scanner.  This process aligns with the Secretary of State’s guidelines and all ballots were accepted."

Bosco was told the ballots in that bin would be scanned at 7 p.m., once voting ended for the day. 

As the process is open to the public, she came back to watch.

"They counted off from one until they were finished every time it was fed in," said Bosco. 

She says watching the process with her own eyes helped relieve some of her anxiety.

"I felt a little bit better. Am I 100% sure? I'll never be, but I just have to accept that," said Bosco. 

The Georgia Secretary of State's Office said while it is not typical or common for the memory cards in the scanners to reach their maximum capacity, it is possible during high turn-out elections like this one. That's why they have a procedure in place, which they say was followed in the case in DeKalb County.