Fulton County braces for huge voter turnout with new election plan in place

ATLANTA — Fulton County officials say a solid plan is in place to avoid huge voter once early voting begins in October and again on Election Day.

The county expects half of their ballots, about 300,000, will be absentee and they’re prepared for both mail-in votes and in-person voting.

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Fulton County Commission chairman Robb Pitts says the county’s election plan begins 32 days out and culminates with a large amount of absentee ballots expected to arrive right around election day.

[LINK: Georgia Election Resources]

Pitts says the county expects to receive 20,000 to 50,000 absentee ballots per day before the postmark deadline on Nov. 3.

The detailed plan includes hour-by-hour staffing and a system to process ballots as they arrive to avoid a backlog.

The county also says the staff working at the polls is better trained this time around and getting more hands-on experience with the machines to avoid hours long lines that voters saw this summer in the state primary.

[LINK: County-by-county absentee ballot drop box locations]

There are also more polling places, now 255 on election day and 30 sites for early voting including mega-sites like State Farm Arena, the Georgia International Convention Center, the High Museum and Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion.

Pitts says he is concerned about state poll pads, the machines used to check in voters at polling sites. He says if that system goes down on election day they will go to a thick paper book that lists the name of every eligible voter at that precinct.

The county also plans to have a technician at each polling place.

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