• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. primary voting>

Voting improvements made, but issues remain in Georgia and Wisconsin

Sara Swann
https://twitter.com/saramswann?lang=en
August 11, 2020
Wisconsin voters

Unlike the April presidential primary (above), Wisconsin kept most of its in-person polling locations open on Tuesday.

Andy Manis/Getty Images

Georgia and Wisconsin are hoping to bounce back from their problematic primaries earlier this year with another round of voting concluding Tuesday.

Both states have made adjustments since their first elections held during the coronavirus pandemic, but reports at midday from voting rights groups show some issues still remain. While the crowds at polling places were smaller, voters reported machine malfunctions and confusion over where they could cast a ballot in person.

Tuesday's elections were another indicator of what could happen in November, on a much larger scale, if states are not prepared and voters are not informed of changes.

Four other states — Connecticut, Minnesota, South Dakota and Vermont — had voting Tuesday, but no major problems were reported. These are the details in the two battleground states hoping to make their second rounds of primaries less problematic than the first.


Georgia

Unlike the June 9 primary, polling locations across the state did not have the same long lines due to the lower-turnout runoff election and increased use of absentee ballots. But malfunctioning voting machines remained an issue for those voting in person — particularly for those in Floyd, Gwinnett, Chatham and Fulton counties, which take in much of the Atlanta region and Savannah.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

After buying new voting machines for every polling place in the state last year, Georgia has seen operational problems with them for three consecutive elections, which does not bode well for the presidential election, when the contest for Georgia's 16 electoral votes now looks to be a tossup.

"Georgia continues to fail voters by not ensuring these machines are up and running. This is gravely concerning for November," said Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which monitors an election hotline for voters.

Tuesday's runoffs were conducted in 94 of Georgia's 159 counties, including the five most populous. Voters will determine who moves on to the general election in four congressional districts — there were a pair of runoffs in each party — as well as contests for dozens of seats in the General Assembly, a range of trial court judges and various county offices.

Turnout in November is expected to exceed 5 million.

To streamline mail ballot processing, the State Elections Board made two emergency rule changes Monday in preparation for a surge in absentee voting this fall. The first will allow election administrators to process, but not tabulate, mail ballots up to two weeks before Nov. 3. The other is the creation of an online portal, expected to launch within the next week, for voters to request absentee ballots.

Wisconsin

On April 7, last-minute election changes caused widespread confusion and chaos during primaries for president and a range of state offices, including a pivotal seat on the state Supreme Court. A shortage of poll workers in Milwaukee meant only five of the 180 polling locations were open, causing hours-long wait times — and widespread fear that the fight for Wisconsin's crucial 10 electoral votes would be severely tainted.

But for Tuesday's legislative and congressional primaries, the state's largest city had 95 percent of its usual polling locations open for in-person voting — and as a result wait times were not an issue, at least by the middle of the afternoon. The National Guard is also on standby in case of any staffing shortages.

There were fewer mail voting issues this time, but as of Tuesday morning more than 9,600 absentee ballots had yet to be delivered to voters who had requested them. And nearly 342,000 mail ballots that were delivered had not yet been returned. The state Elections Commission said voters who have not yet returned their absentee ballots must do so at their municipal clerk's office before the polls close at 8 p.m. in order to be counted.

Voting rights groups reported that some Wisconsinites were confused about where they could drop off their mail ballot or cast one in person due to lack of proper signage at polling locations and elections offices.

From Your Site Articles
  • Wisconsin's debacle is an election security wake-up call - The Fulcrum ›
  • Georgia, primary marred by long waits, voting site confusion - The ... ›
  • Paper voter rolls ordered in Georgia - The Fulcrum ›
  • Long lines in Georgia may signal voter suppression - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Minnesota August primary voting has started: Here's what you need ... ›
  • Wisconsin primary: What to know for the August 11 elections ›
  • Controversy puts spotlight on Georgia congressional runoff ›
primary voting

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
10h

Ask Joe: Fostering social activism

Joe Weston
10h

With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers

Barbara Rodriguez, The 19th
11h

The crook and the fumbler

Lawrence Goldstone
26 January

Pragmatism is the way forward

Dave Anderson
26 January

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Our Staff
26 January
Videos

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff

Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

Our Staff

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Our Staff

Video: Kevin McCarthy is Speaker, but he's got a tough job ahead

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday End of Year

Our Staff

Video: Minnesota Gov. Walz asks fellow Democrats to ‘Think Big’ when it comes to fixing voting issues

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
10h

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Our Staff
26 January

Podcast: Why we misunderstand independent voters

Our Staff
25 January

Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

Our Staff
24 January
Recommended
Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Podcasts
Ask Joe: Fostering social activism

Ask Joe: Fostering social activism

Pop Culture
With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers

With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers

Elections
The crook and the fumbler

The crook and the fumbler

Elections
Pragmatism is the way forward

Pragmatism is the way forward

Big Picture
Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Podcasts