Georgia Secretary of State launches investigation into election day chaos

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After issues with Georgia’s new $104 million voting machines that lead to lines extending for hours and some voters leaving without casting a ballot, the Georgia Secretary of State has launched an investigation into the chaos on Tuesday.

"The voting situation today in certain precincts in Fulton and Dekalb counties is unacceptable," Raffensperger said in a statement. "My office has opened an investigation to determine what these counties need to do to resolve these issues before November's election."

Poll workers told the Atlanta Journal Constitution they had problems turning the machines on, installing touchscreens, and encoding voter access cards. Poll locations across the state stayed open past 7 p.m., the original closing time. 

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond blamed Tuesday’s issues on the state’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger. 

"It is the secretary of state's responsibility to train, prepare and equip election staff throughout the state to ensure fair and equal access to the ballot box. Those Georgians who have been disenfranchised by the statewide chaos that has affected the voting system today in numerous DeKalb precincts and throughout the state of Georgia deserve answers," Thurmond said.

Raffensperger pushed back, blaming the issues on local leaders. "Obviously, the first time a new voting system is used there is going to be a learning curve, and voting in a pandemic only increased these difficulties. But every other county faced these same issues and were significantly better prepared to respond so that voters had every opportunity to vote," he said.