Election audit, early runoff voting = voter confidence

  • Election audit, early runo voting = voter confi dence
    Election audit, early runo voting = voter confi dence
  • Spirits remained high among voters despite long lines Tuesday afternoon for early voting in the Georgia Senate runoff election. IAN TOCHER/Staff
    Spirits remained high among voters despite long lines Tuesday afternoon for early voting in the Georgia Senate runoff election. IAN TOCHER/Staff

    If Putnam voters harbor lingering worries about the soundness of the state’s election system, evidence is hard to find. Voter confidence was evident in the flocking to the polls Monday on the first day of week-long advance/early voting before the December 6 election day.

    And last week, election officials here learned their newly required partial hand-count of one statewide race in the Nov. 8 general election had turned out to be 100 percent accurate, according to a third-party firm that audited the results.

    The first couple of days during advance voting typically draws large numbers of determined voters. This year, the Oct. 17 first day of advance voting before the Nov. 8 general election drew just over 600 voters.

    This past Monday’s first day, perhaps aided by beautiful fall weather, saw 35 people in line at 11:30 a.m. outside the board of elections office in the county administration building, plus another 10 or so voters inside. With only one race in the runoff, between incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, the lines moved quickly. Voters parked, voted and left in perhaps 20 minutes total.

    At 3 p.m., the situation remained much the same: a relatively short line outside but moving rapidly. The real difference, however, came in the total number voting. By 3 p.m., the number was just shy of the 600-plus who had voted all day Oct. 17, and acting elections supervisor Kimberly Rudolph estimated the total would top 700 after a couple more hours.

    The short time period between the general election and the runoff otherwise brought complications for absentee voting, considering short windows and quick deadlines. For instance, the deadline for applying for an absentee ballot at the local elections office has already passed, but still may be obtained through the secretary of state’s website. Regardless, all voted absentee ballots must be received in the Putnam County elections office by 7 p.m. on election day to be counted.

    In-person voting on the Dec. 6 runoff election day will be held at the usual locations for each of the county’s five voting precincts.