U.S. elections 2020: polling incidents in Georgia delayed results in this country (representation)
Detroit / Atlanta:
Americans rallied by the millions to vote on Tuesday in a rather calm demonstration of political determination and civic duty amid the coronavirus pandemic and deep tensions around one of the most polarizing presidential races in state history -United.
The masks worn by many voters and the sight of closed storefronts in major city centers recalled two defining issues of the 2020 election, with COVID-19 still ravaging parts of the country and concerns over the outcome of the elections. elections after a summer. protests against racial injustice.
A handful of incidents stood out on an otherwise rather quiet election day as Republican President Donald Trump fought for a second term against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
The FBI and the New York attorney general’s office have opened investigations into torrents of anonymous robocalls urging residents of several states to stay home.
A Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate on Tuesday sued election officials in a suburban Philadelphia county, accusing them of illegally counting mail-in ballots early and giving voters who submitted defective ballots a chance to vote at new.
And a federal judge has ordered the United States Postal Service to scan some facilities across the country for unemailed ballots and ship them immediately to election offices for counting.
But little to no major disruption was reported at polling stations. Civil liberties groups and law enforcement officials were on high alert for any interference.
State restrictions on the early count of the flow of mail-in votes received in advance in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania meant that a clear outcome in those three pivotal states would likely be undetermined until Wednesday or beyond. These states could decide who wins the White House.
Polling incidents in Georgia delayed results there.
Final Rush
As polling stations were set to close overnight in closely fought Pinellas County, Fla., A last-minute stampede of voters in cars pulled up at an election station within minutes of Largo to deliver their postal ballots to an outside drop box.
In New York City, some voting lines snaked around blocks, but in many places the lines were short or nonexistent. Investigators speculated this was due to an unprecedented wave of early votes. Over 100 million votes were cast before election day, a new record.
“I lost my mail-in ballot, and I’m not going to miss this vote,” said Ginnie House, 22, an actress and creative writing student who returned to Atlanta from New York City just to vote for Biden. .
Linda King, 73, an education coordinator for a nonprofit, arrived early to vote for Trump at a church in Champion, Ohio, but found the parking lot blocked and decided to return in the after- midday.
King said she was determined to vote in person on polling day out of sheer habit. “I don’t celebrate Christmas in November,” she says.
Problems but no violence
The US Department of Justice’s civil rights division said it has deployed staff to 18 states to monitor voter intimidation and suppression. A senior US Department of Homeland Security official told reporters there was no evidence of violence at polling stations during the day.
Business owners in cities across the country have closed windows at street level for fear of civil unrest later, especially if election results are delayed.
There were scattered issues.
One of the most potentially significant events occurred in Fulton County, Ga., At the State Farm Arena polling center in downtown Atlanta, where a burst water pipe delayed the vote count. at least two hours.
Snafu in Georgia’s most populous county hampered efforts to call a winner on Tuesday night.
Poll observers also pointed to malfunctioning voting machines in three counties in Georgia, causing slowdowns as some voters were forced to fill out provisional ballots and raised concerns that paper copies were running out.
Some Americans worried about prolonged counting in pivotal states.
Challenging Trump’s claims in the run-up to Tuesday that continuing to count votes after election day was open to abuse, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, told reporters on Tuesday that it was normal for the ballots to be compiled a few days after the close of the poll.
“It’s not a sign of something bad,” he said. “Will we have a final number on election night? Well, the answer is, of course not. Because we never have a final number on election night.”
Irregularities in the ballot boxes were isolated. Man legally carrying an open gun has been arrested and charged with trespassing at a polling station in Charlotte, North Carolina, after being deemed “possibly intimidating” other voters, police said .
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
