ATLANTA — As voting comes to a close in the hotly contested 6th Congressional District race, Georgia’s top elections official tells Channel 2 Action News that there were few problems in the race, which has gained national attention.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant spoke one-on-one with Secretary of State Brian Kemp about maintaining the integrity of this super high-profile election.
"I would tell people not to get caught up too much in the rhetoric. We have things under control here," Kemp said. "We've treated this like a presidential race, because literally the whole country's watching it. Unprecedented amount of money being spent on this race, parts of the world watching it, national media."
The biggest confirmed problem so far was a slow start at two DeKalb County polling places after elections officials accidentally switched the electronic poll books used to check in voters.
A judge extended voting at Livsey Elementary School and Holy Cross Catholic Church in Tucker until 7:30 p.m.
SPECIAL SECTION: The 6th District Race
"We've had a smooth day today, you know? A few little things here and there which you always have in elections," Kemp told Diamant.
But Kemp said his office remains on high alert after human error that delayed Fulton County's election returns in April, a recent lawsuit questioning the integrity of Georgia’s voting machines, and a leaked NSA document that confirmed a Russian cyberattack on an American voting software supplier used in other states.
"Our voting machines are not hooked to the internet, all of the ballots that are cast and the tapes, the memory cards that are coming out of the machines they'll be hand delivered to us by law enforcement personnel. It's not tracked over the internet," Kemp told Diamant.
Kemp said he is confident the safeguards in place are enough to ensure an accurate vote count.
And despite a predicted record turnout for a runoff election, Kemp said the dynamics of the election itself make it relatively easy to manage.