Elections officials in Georgia’s most populous county agreed Tuesday to open polls earlier and expand voting sites, but not before the elections chief received input on risks to poll workers and voters from the coronavirus.
People lined up outside some polling sites in Fulton County before they opened on Monday — the first day of early voting for the June 9 primaries —, the county’s elections director, Rick Barron, said. Some voters endured long waits. The county includes most of Atlanta.
“There is a lot of political pressure that we are receiving, and I understand that we don’t want lines,” Barron said at an emergency meeting of the county’s Board of Registration & Elections Tuesday. “But at the same time, I’m concerned with the welfare of our poll workers and the voters that show up.”
Barron cited a report about coronavirus infections in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that could be connected to in-person voting there on April 7.
After a lengthy discussion, Fulton County elections officials decided they could safely open polling sites two hours earlier, at 7 a.m., starting on Wednesday. Several polling sites will also expand to accommodate more voters.
