Georgia: Lines remain long as early voting continues

October 25, 2008

By Mary Lou Pickel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Voter turnout has topped 15 percent in Georgia, as wait times to vote early at elections offices continue to increase.

In Cobb County, the wait time reached a peak of three hours on Wednesday, due to high turnout. Glitches with the state's computer system caused brief delays in processing voters in some counties Wednesday, including Fulton County and Cobb.Early votes cast on voting machines as well as mailed-in paper ballots won't be counted until Election Day.

Here's a breakdown of who's voting, as of the end of Wednesday:

TURNOUT DEMOGRAPHICS

Black 316,942 35.5%

White 541,404 60.7%

Asian-Pacific Islander 3,651 41%

Hispanic 4,733 53%

Native American 122 01%

Other 25,378 2.8%

Female 500,861 56.1%

Male 365,991 41%

VOTING NUMBERS

Number of ballots cast by close of business Oct. 22: 892,230

Number of registered voters as of Oct. 20: 5,748,838

Early voting turnout: About 15.5 percent

Number of ballots voted in person: 763,759

Number of main-in ballots returned: 128,471

TOP 5 COUNTIES IN TURNOUT

DeKalb 83,531

Fulton 64,848

Cobb 47,086

Gwinnett 46,364

Henry 30,517

Note: The gender numbers do not add up to 100 percent because the gender of voters listed in the racial category "Other" is not included in the data.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution