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Voting Chaos in US Southern State of Georgia

VOA News

   A disastrous primary election day in the southeastern U.S. state of
   Georgia Tuesday overshadowed a handful of key races to choose general
   election candidates for the November general election.

   The chaos was a combination of a new set of computerized voting
   machines that either malfunctioned or failed to arrive on time at
   polling stations, volunteers who did not know how to operate the
   machines and a lack of provisional ballots led to voters standing in
   long lines for hours, with the wait extending well into the night. Many
   voters eventually gave up and left.

   The coronavirus pandemic also contributed to the chaos, with at least
   1.2 million voters casting their ballots by mail instead of standing
   outside waiting to vote and risking infection. The pandemic also led to
   a shortage of volunteers, prompting local officials to reduce the
   number of polling locations.

   The problems were reported statewide, but were most notable in Fulton
   County, home of the state capital of Atlanta, and neighboring DeKalb
   County, both of them Democratic strongholds with a predominantly
   African-American populace.

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