Expand / Collapse search
☰

Long lines in Gwinnett County plague voters; local leaders call for action

By
Updated  October 14, 2020 5:58am EDT
U.S. House
FOX 5 Atlanta

Congressional candidate criticizes elections officials

Carolyn Bourdeaux, the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District, is calling out Georgia elections officials for long lines during early voting.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - The Democratic nominee for the 7th District Congressional seat, Carolyn Bourdeaux held a news conference Tuesday with other party officials, calling for the Secretary of state to take action. This comes after long lines plagued many voters Monday on the first day of early voting.

“It is outrageous what has happened here in Gwinnett,” Carolyn Bourdeaux said.

“In the words on John Lewis, the vote is precious,” Democratic State Representative Sam Park said.

There were extremely long lines Tuesday morning as people came out for a second day to cast their votes early. The long lines were at the Gwinnett Voter Registrations and Elections building located on Grayson Highway.

Officials said the average wait time was eight hours.

Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts

“We have known for months we were going to see extraordinary voter turnout and our clear expectation is that our board of election and secretary of state should be prepared for this,” Bourdeaux said.

Bourdeaux held a news conference Tuesday after seeing the long lines Monday. A record number of people turned out to cast their ballots.

County officials confirm more than 8,700 people voted on the first day compared to 1,400 on the first day in the 2016 election.

“Bring your cooler, bring your snacks. You might want to leave children at home,” Gwinnett Resident Enise Dean.

Enise Dean was one of the thousands standing in line Monday.

GET MORE 2020 YOU DECIDE COVERAGE

She waited for nearly nine hours.

“Every one of these locations has a limited space of how many machines can be in the space for check in and ballot marking devices which is the polling booth right now,” Gwinnett County Spokesman Joe Sorenson said.

Sorenson said officials are looking at ways to decrease the wait times.

Early voting ends October 30.

So, what about Election Day on November 3?

“Election day in Gwinnett County we have 156 locations open. The difference there is your vote in your location on Election Day,” Sorenson said.

Gwinnett officials encourage residents to use the official website to check wait times.

“We are trying to find that balance this election of where the resources need to be on Election Day, and in-person voting and for absentee by mail. This is a different type of election than before,” Sorenson said.

Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.