By most accounts, the first week of early voting for Georgia's midterm election kept state and local elections officials hopping.
After four days, more than 300,000 Georgia voters had cast advance ballots, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Wait times to vote were lengthy; in Cobb County, for example, some voters reported spending three hours in line.
The Hall County Elections Office was open for five days of early voting and voters turned up in record numbers, according to Registration Coordinator Terenda Sargent.
Sargent reported a total of 6,352 advance ballots were cast from Monday through Friday. That's compared to 2,860 during the first week of the midterm election in 2014.
In an email, Sargent said the office is doing what it can to reduce wait times for voters.
"We’ve done some adjustments to our check-in procedures which seem to be helping the wait time," Sargent said. "It’s averaging about an hour."
Sargent said poll workers have been busy during all times of the day.
"Although we literally have not had any 'slow times' this week, there seem to be more people first thing in the morning and lunch time [from] 12-2 p.m.," Sargent said.
Early voting continues weekdays through Nov. 2. The state-mandated Saturday voting day is Oct. 27. Follow this link for specific times and locations for early voting in Hall County.
Habersham County elections officials also reported a busy week. Elections Supervisor/Chief Registrar Laurel Ellison reported more than 400 early voters per day for a total of 2,243 ballots cast for the first week of advance voting.
