Early voting lines shortened in Bibb, lengthened at some Houston spots

Early voting lines are long at some locations in Houston County, but lines in Bibb County are shorter this year with the opening of a second polling place.

The Terminal Station location combined with the Macon-Bibb County Board of Election’s new digs on Pio Nono Avenue helped mitigate the wait time, Elections Superintendent Jeanetta Watson said.

“We’ve been full and steady all day at both locations,” Watson said. “Some people have been (waiting) outside, but (the line) is not wrapped around the building … I can’t say that won’t happen next week.”

Of the the county’s more than 80,000 registered voters, more than 16,000 had voted early by Friday. That’s an average of 1,650 voters daily since advance voting started Oct. 17.

“In 2012, we probably saw about 23,000-25,000 (voters) in a 21-day period,” Watson said, noting that the time frame for advanced voting in Georgia had changed since the 2008 election, when about 29,000 early voted over a 45-day period.

Ahead of the final week for early voting, Watson said “we’ll probably have record high totals every day.”

Turnout wasn’t as high in Houston County, and the wait was longer at some polling places.

On Monday and Tuesday, voters were waiting about two hours at the Houston Health Pavilion and Central Georgia Technical College locations, said Andy Holland, registration election assistant.

Holland said there were no technical glitches causing the delay and it was just a result of the high volume of people voting.

However, by Thursday two additional computers had been placed at each of the Warner Robins locations and the wait time had been reduced to an hour or less, he said.

Waiting at the early voting location at the old courthouse in downtown Perry has been just a few minutes all week, he said.

Holland said the longest lines are around lunchtime and the best times to go are either around midmorning or midafternoon.

Through Wednesday, 13,000 people had early voted, while 31,000 total early voted in the 2012 general election, Holland said.

Early voting also will take place Saturday in all counties from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Both polling places will be open in Bibb County. The Houston Health Pavilion poll and the location in Perry will be open for voting Saturday.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Early voting lines shortened in Bibb, lengthened at some Houston spots."