Coweta County, located about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta, received federal approval to hold Saturday voting in 1986. Polls were open from 9 a.m. to noon at the county administration building in downtown Newnan. Voters in line by noon were allowed to cast a ballot.
By mid-morning, 200 people were in line, said chief registrar Joan Hamilton, who estimated that about 27 percent of the county's more than 74,000 registered voters have cast ballots since early voting began in Georgia Sept. 22. The longest wait times during the past week have averaged two to three hours.
"We've had long lines, but no problems other then when the state computer system has been down," Hamilton said.
"Voters have been very cooperative, happy. Everybody is laughing and talking. People hold people's place in line while they go get coffee and food and come back."
The voting experience has not been as pleasant in other parts of the state, where advance voting ended Friday.
The Georgia Secretary of State's Office said Saturday a total of 1,994,990 people, or about 35 percent of the state's 5.6 million registered voters, have cast votes so far. That's 10 percent more than Secretary of State Karen Handel predicted before the polls opened on Sept. 22 for early voting.
The turnout that has shattered predictions also has caused long lines, with some voters standing in line until late at night. On Friday, Democrats called on state officials to keep polling places open through Election Day to accommodate crowds.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis was among those Friday calling for federal permission to expand voting hours.
The Clayton County election board requested such an extension Friday afternoon but withdrew the request a few hours later, citing exhausted poll workers as the reason.
A spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue said any changes to voting procedures would require prior federal approval.
Deputy Secretary of State Rob Simms said state law prohibits voters from casting ballots the day before Election Day.
As Tuesday nears, law enforcement agencies around Georgia, like agencies across the country, are preparing for huge crowds of people celebrating the historic election or possible disturbances. Most agencies are not offering details.
Atlanta Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa Keyes said officers will not post officers at polling places, but they will be stationed nearby to help with pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
South of the city, Clayton County will set up a command post at Tara Stadium in Jonesboro to handle any election-related problems. An officer also will be stationed at every polling place.
In east Georgia, Augusta-area authorities don't expect any civil unrest, but said they want to be prepared as they are for any election.
Richmond County Sheriff's Department Col. Gary Powell said officers will ride from one polling place to another through the day to patrol the areas, as they have done the past two presidential elections.
As many as 60 deputies in Richmond and Columbia counties underwent an eight-hour training course Thursday to learn crowd control and disbursement techniques in the event of overexuberant celebrating or worse.
But Powell said the training was not geared to the election. It was just the time when the Georgia State Patrol could conduct it. He said that since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, the department has issued road patrol deputies riot gear, including gas masks, but most had not had formal training.
"There will be no riot people out during Election Day," he said. "We're not anticipating problems."
Ga. Secretary of State Karen Handel
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/11/214672