Atlanta's Black Voters Use Old Republican Tool

With less than fourteen days remaining before November 4, many registered voters aren’t waiting until then to cast their votes in this historic election. Since many political analysts have predicted voter participation at the polls this year will double in comparison to past presidential elections coupled with a recent article in the New York Times, which reported at least 11 states will use new voting equipment, causing possible computer problems or excessive long lines on voting day, a number of states are being proactive, providing early voting options.

To minimize voting hiccups, states like Georgia officially began voting for a presidential candidate on Monday, September 22, nearly 45 days before the actual election day. This is the first time this has occurred in the history of presidential elections, says Mark Hamilton, a voter education public information coordinator for Fulton County, which encompasses the city of Atlanta. Georgia’s secretary of state is allowing voters to vote by mail, using an absentee ballot or in-person at several state-approved voting locations, without providing a reason. (In Georgia, like some other states, absentee ballot applications can be accessed online and faxed-in.)

“Traditionally, early voting in Georgia was a Republican device, intended to make it easier for the party’s harried, suburban supporters to cast their ballots,”says the Atlanta Journal-Constitution seasoned political analyst, Jim Galloway. Yet, the current trend in Georgia’s Fulton County is bearing out a different result, where African Americans make up close to 50 percent of the population.

According to Henderson, over 60 percent of voters who have cast their vote in-person so far in Fulton County have been African Americans. There have been reports of some voters on the Southside of Fulton County, which primarily consist of African Americans, waiting up to two hours to vote early. Henderson says there are actually more voting machines on the Southside of town as opposed to the Northside, which is predominately white. There just seems to be a surge in voter interest this year, just as the analysts have predicted.

And, for the first time, some Georgians like 38-year-old Valencia Washburn, an African American resident of Fulton County, have decided to cast their vote by mail. Washburn said, “I didn’t want to spend two hours or more in-line waiting on November 4, as I did for the presidential primary in February.”

Washburn accounts for the 10 percent of the registered voters in Fulton County who has currently requested absentee ballots, according to Henderson. Like Georgia, most states are allowing voters up until the last week of October to request an application to vote by mail. (To access your state’s guideline for an absentee ballot, click here or contact 1-866-MY-VOTE-1.)

Conversely, unlike Washburn, Henderson notes there is still much skepticism by African Americans, voting by mail. Henderson ensures voters that they can track their ballots online in Georgia or contact their local voting registration office. Since there isn’t a national voting policy, each state has a different means of handling the process.

And, with there being a surge in advance voting this year, Henderson wants to dispel one major myth about early voting, the issue of “those” votes only being counted in the case of a tie. In fact, in Georgia, Henderson says, those who voted early, in-person, votes will be tallied first on election day, while mailed-in ballots will be scanned optically and counted, too. According to Georgia's voting rules, as long as you get your ballots in before polls close on November 4, they will count. However, to be safe, voting officials recommend that you get your votes in prior to the deadline. (To find out your state's deadline for absentee ballots, click here.)

So, the best way to avoid the long lines on election day is to vote early. (To access absentee ballot information for your state, click here.)