Voters wait in line outside of the Board of Elections on the first day of advanced absentee voting at the municipal building in Augusta. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Georgians turn out to vote early

Alice and Willie Johnson waited 40 minutes Monday at the municipal building to be among the first to cast ballots in what they think will be a tight presidential election.

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Betty Love (bottom right), of Augusta, votes on the first day of advance voting as crowds gather to vote at the municipal building. Ms. Love said she waited about an hour to vote. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff Estelle Lemon (from left) and Ella Wheeler wait to cast their vote on the first day of advance voting as a long line forms outside of the Board of Elections at the municipal building. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

"Very close," Mr. Johnson said, then added jokingly, "if they count all the votes."

With visions of an election in 2000 that was decided by a few hundred voters in Florida, long lines formed the first day of advanced absentee voting in Georgia but seemed to move smoothly. Richmond County reported about 1,800 voters Monday; Columbia County had just over 600.

Although it is the seventh time Augusta has used an electronic voting system, there was a small hiccup with the system. A server that allows counties to access the statewide database of voter registrations went down Monday morning and wasn't fixed until about 10:30 a.m., which limited access and slowed down the process in some places.

"Not catastrophic but obviously not convenient," said Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox. "Nobody to our knowledge was turned away."

Convenience, ironically, is the reason behind the week of early voting, which allows anyone to cast a ballot through Friday to avoid the crowds on Election Day. Augusta is pushing that idea with two satellite polling places at Henry Brigham Community Center and Warren Road Community Center, and with extended hours.

Judging from the response, it's been a big hit, said Lynn Bailey, the executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections.

When she arrived at the south Augusta site at 7:45 a.m., "there were people waiting at the door to vote," she said. "I would say there have been no less than 50 to 75 people in line all day long."

It took her an hour, but Faye Howard of Hephzibah could qualify for the good citizen award.

"Paid my taxes and then went to the other end of the hall and voted," she said.

While she backed President Bush and the Johnsons supported Sen. John Kerry, all three voted yes for the special purpose local option sales tax referendum.

"I get mad at the commissioners too, but we've still got to have money to improve," Mr. Johnson said.

Passion for election issues also brought out voters in Aiken County, where a few waited in line nearly two hours to cast an absentee vote. About 300 people voted Monday, adding to more than 1,000 since they began last week, said Stuart Bedenbaugh, the executive director of Aiken County Registration and Elections Commission.

There is no early voting in Aiken County, but voters have offered up a long list of legal reasons they can't make it on election day: age, vacation, work and college.

Staff Writer Greg Rickabaugh contributed to this report.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.

About 1,800 voters turned out for the first day of early voting in Richmond County and about 600 voted in Columbia County, election officials said.

--From the Tuesday, October 26, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle