Atlanta

Election Day in Georgia: Here are the local runoff races to look out for

ATLANTA — Voters are going back to the polls Tuesday as a number of big runoff elections will be decided. There are a couple of local races that have gained national attention.

In Fulton County, incumbent District Attorney Paul Howard is facing Fani Willis. Howard has been in the position for decades but has recently come under fire for his handling of the Rayshard Brooks shooting investigation. Willis is Howard’s former employee.

We’ll have comprehensive coverage all day with results on TV tonight and streaming on WSB Now – on your Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV

Another big race is for Fulton County sheriff. Incumbent Ted Jackson is facing Pat Labat in a runoff. There is not a Republican candidate, so whoever wins the race will become the sheriff.

[WHEN THE POLLS CLOSE: Live Georgia Election Results 2020]

We’re watching a special election to finish out the term of former Sheriff Jeffrey Mann. The winner tonight will finish out that unexpired term. Melody Maddox will face Republican Harold Dennis in November.

In metro Atlanta and stretching to northwest Georgia, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is facing fellow Republican John Cowan for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.

Greene has come under intense fire over her rhetoric and support for the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Videos she’s posted to social media have led many national and state Republican leaders to condemn her.

[Runoff candidate for Georgia’s 14th District could become first QAnon follower in Congress]

The district, which stretches from the outskirts of metro Atlanta to the largely rural northwest corner of the state, is heavily conservative, and the winner of the runoff will likely earn a ticket to Washington.

Voting issues

So far, there have been just a handful of voting issues that we’ve been able to find.

One voter emailed Channel 2 Action News that it took 45 minutes to vote at the Buckhead library and she ended up just filling out a provisional ballot.

Channel 2′s Sophia Choi caught up with the Fulton County Chairman at the same library on Monday where he promised a good experience for voters.

“There are a few issues popping up, related to the equipment. Over which we have no control, but we do have technicians on site,” said Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts. “So we’re on top of it, these are little issues that are really important for us, because the small things that are happening now is preparing us for the Sept. 23 election, but more importantly Nov. 3.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray got an exclusive look at new technology that the Secretary of State’s Office tested out in five counties on Tuesday.

Secretary of State of Brad Raffensperger told Gray that Tuesday was going to be a trial run for November’s general election.

It shows real-time wait times at polling places and any technical or equipment problems as they happen.

“Where we can see those bottlenecks, but also, if anything happens, we’ll have instant notification of where that is, where the tech is, how long it will take him to get there. We’ll have quick responses,” Raffensperger said.




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