Technical issues

In total, “more than 126,000 voters turned out to vote in person on this first day of advance polling in the state of Georgia”, notes the newspaper, which underlines that long queues and delays to be able to vote were notably due technical problems.

The state of Georgia has “a hybrid voting system that relies both on voting machines and on a paper trail of votes cast”, explains the newspaper, which points out that in some counties, electronic equipment does not have not worked properly.

Another explanation for the long queues is the fact that the authorities had not anticipated such voter turnout and provided enough polling stations.
Record participation

But local authorities and observers were still pleased with the good voter turnout on the first day of advance polling, which fell on the same day as Columbus Day [a holiday in commemoration of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the country. New world].

For Walter Jones, one of the spokespersons for the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia, the fact that voters turned out in large numbers at the polling stations shows genuine “enthusiasm and interest in this presidential election”, in a state where Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden are almost neck and neck in the polls.

In total, more than 10,500,000 American voters have already voted in the Nov. 3 presidential election, by mail or early vote, according to a tally released Oct. 13 by the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida. A record.