Thousands Report Problems At Polls Across The Nation

One non-partisan voter protection organization reports it received over 12,000 reports by 4 PM EST today. Is it dirty tricks, incompetence, or both?

Election Protection, a nonpartisan coalition, today reported that it had received over 12,000 complaints by 4 PM EST. Voters are reporting problems in states across the country, from Connecticut to Georgia to North Carolina to Alabama to Texas.

In the Lone Star State, which just enacted a strict voter ID law, “the state emailed counties Tuesday morning to inform them that the statewide voter registration system was down,” MSNBC reports. “According to Janice Evans, elections director for Brazoria County, it remained down at noon local time. That meant poll workers were unable to access information about a voter’s registration status, likely leading many voters to have to cast provisional ballots.”

Provisional ballots are generally only counted if a race is extremely close.

Connecticut was among the hardest hit Tuesday, according to reports. Lawyers for Gov. Daniel Malloy asked a judge to keep Hartford polling places open for extended hours after a slew of issues kept voters from casting their ballots at at least four sites. One site had no monitors. At another 23 polling places, registration books did not arrive in time. 

“Because of delays and other problems at Hartford polling locations, we are filing a complaint in Hartford Superior Court asking that voting hours be extended to accommodate voters who were unable to vote or were discouraged from voting this morning,” Malloy, a Democrat who is running for re-election, said in a statement. “Currently the polls in Hartford are working smoothly and voters can cast their ballots. We encourage everyone to vote.”

In Georgia, over 40,000 voter registrations somehow disappeared, or weren’t processed in time, despite a lawsuit. That lawsuit was dismissed by a state judge as a hypothetical event. The judge claimed he trusted the Republican Secretary of State would ensure those voter registrations would be processed on time. They apparently were not.

The 40,000 were mostly from majority black counties that tend to vote Democratic.

To make matters worse, the “voter website used by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office to help people access important election information has not worked for some voters this morning,” Creative Loafing Atlanta reports today. “The website provides important information about voter registration status and polling locations for voters.”

 

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