Voter Suppression or Machine Malfunction?

June 9th was the day Georgia had a complete catastrophe, no I am not talking about the corona virus, I am talk about the Georgia Preliminary. That morning thousands of Georgians began to line up, waiting for their right to vote. Now we all know voting can take time out of your day, but on June 9th people waited hours to be able to exercise that right. I started noticing the issues on Facebook, people sharing and posting that they had been in line for 3 hours and had only moved 60 feet. Why? Well everyone seems to point fingers at everyone else, and when there was no one else to blame they blamed the machines. I started digging around, I needed to know for myself what was being said and what exactly happened.

    This catastrophe begins well before the actual day of the preliminary. In August of 2019 the state ordered to get rid of the flawed machines, for a machine that would be more secure and verifiable. This new voting machine would give basically give you a receipt for the vote that you had made. This new system would allow states to audit when needed to ensure fair voting. While this was an excellent idea in theory, this would be a devastating blow to Georgia in June of 2020. These new machines were rolled out to different counties across Georgia and training was to follow. During the preliminary, reports of  some counties only had 1 out of 5 machines working, others counties stated that their workers did not have the passwords to actually unlock the machines for voting. 

    These issues caused lines to only get longer and voters to understandably get angry. Voters were given different answers when they asked about the wait times for voting. If there is one thing I know from working in customer service is that people want straight facts not bogus fluffed up answers. As people got angry they took to social media to vent. Everyone was angry and rightfully so. Different news stations began to report on the issues Georgia was having. Miles O'brian from PBS, reported from Central City Park Atlanta, Ga. One voter John Dodson had this to say, " It is 9:56. There are now 8 eight, eight ballots counted." Clearly the state had a problem, their solution? They extended the voting times for different counties. Officials started taking to social media as well blaming each other or blaming the machines. Finally at 7:36 pm the Georgia ACLU made this statement, "The Georgia elections held today were a massive failure. Countless Georgians were deprived of their sacred right to vote. Whether it is incompetence or intentional voter suppression- the result is the same-- Georgians denied their rights as citizens in this democracy." There is now an investigation on what exactly happened that day. Will we get answers, probably not. The only option we truly have is to move forward, as Georgians standing up for what is right and what is our right. If there was voter suppression, it is our jobs as Americans to not stay quiet and stand together to ensure that all voices are heard. 

                                                                        Works Cited:

O'Brien, Miles. “In Georgia, Primary Election Chaos Highlights a Voting System Deeply Flawed.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 22 June 2020, www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-georgia-primary-election-chaos-highlights-a-voting-system-deeply-flawed.

Staff, WSBTV.com News. “Voters Run into Issues at the Polls across Metro Atlanta. Here's What Happened.” WSBTV, 10 June 2020, www.wsbtv.com/news/local/live-updates-voters-run-into-long-lines-other-issues-election-day/H6XEOPWP2NAUZAMNVYW3ISQB3Q/.