Live Updates: Middle Georgians head to the polls in Senate runoff election

Polls are now open until 7 p.m. in Georgia for the Senate runoff election

Since no candidate in either of Georgia’s U.S. Senate races received more than 50%-plus one of the vote in November, both went into a runoff. Republican incumbent David Perdue is up against Democrat Jon Ossoff. In the special election, Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler faces Democrat Raphael Warnock.

The Public Commission Service District 4 seat is also in a runoff. That race pits Republican incumbent Lauren “Bubba” McDonald against Daniel Blackman.

The Women’s Diversity Group and other women-led organizations have partnered with Uber to provide free rides to polling locations in Macon-Bibb County. To request a ride, voters can call 478-999-8683.

Here is a list of polling locations in Macon-Bibb County.

Two hours before the polls close

Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections Chair Mike Kaplan said voting is moving fairly swiftly at most precincts in Macon, but in other locations, voting is happening at a slower pace.

“I want to thank everybody for their patience,” he said.

The Board of Elections has been working since March 2020 to prepare the county for the numerous elections throughout the year during the coronavirus pandemic, Kaplan said.

“I’ll be happy when this election is over,” he said with a laugh.

Grant Blankenship, a reporter with Georgia Public Broadcasting, tweeted that Bonaire Middle School in Houston County had an hour long line just after 3 p.m.

The polling location had one of its two scanners not working Tuesday morning, but there was no indication whether that complication caused the long line.

Running smoothly

Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections Chair Mike Kaplan said the runoff election has been running smoothly Tuesday morning.

“So far, it’s going extremely well,” Kaplan said. “I’m just kind of starting to go around to polls and see how things are going. I haven’t got any complaints from any of the poll watchers yet. So I think... we’re pretty safe and secure.”

Kaplan’s only concern was with the Howard 3 polling location. Kaplan said they found out Monday that Turning Point at Mabel White Baptist Church, which houses the polling location, rented out its parking lot for a local doctor to do drive-thru COVID-19 testing from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

With Howard 3 being one of Bibb County’s largest polling precincts, Kaplan said he hopes traffic doesn’t get backed up at the location and the doctor decided to have testing on another day.

Kaplan said he plans to visit the location Tuesday morning to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Andy Holland, the election registration assistant for Houston County Board of Elections, said the election is running smoothly in Houston County as well with only a few, small lines when the polls opened Tuesday morning.

“It’s going pretty well. All of our precincts got open alright. Most of them had a little bit of a line first thing this morning that’s died down a little bit, and it’s just been steady,” Holland said.

The only issue Houston County has seen is one of the scanners at the Bonaire Middle School polling location wasn’t working this morning, but because the precinct had two scanners, they were able to continue to cast ballots, Holland said. Voters had to wait up to an hour to vote at the precinct into the afternoon.

Early voting ballots will be counted first after 7 p.m. followed by absentee ballots, and Holland said he believes they will be able to report early, absentee and Election Day votes by the end of the night.

Absentee ballot cure forms

The Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections received reports that people were going to voters’ homes asking them to sign forms related to the absentee ballot process, according to a news release.

Election officials do not visit people’s homes, and the Board of Elections assured voters that these people are not government officials.

If there is a problem with a voter’s absentee ballot, the voter will be contacted by the Board of Elections by phone, email, fax or mail, according to the release.

Turning Point at Mabel White Baptist Church polling location

Voters who cast their ballot at the Howard 3 polling location might face traffic issues Tuesday, according to a news release.

The polling location is housed in Turning Point at Mabel White Baptist Church, which has rented its parking lot to a local doctor to perform drive-thru COVID-19 testing Tuesday.

However, church officials assured the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections that “traffic will be directed in an orderly fashion,” according to the release.

Houston County Annex polling place in Warner Robins

Bruce Cox said he voted for Perdue and Loeffler “to keep things in check.”

“If one party has control over the House, Senate and presidency, that’s not good in my view,” Cox said. “It’s always good to have checks and balances.”

Cox, who noted he had to wait between two to three hours to vote early in the presidential election, was happy to be able to get in and out quickly at the polling place Tuesday.

Hope Johnson said she remains steadfast in her belief that there was voter fraud in the presidential election, which shored up her votes for Perdue and Loeffler.

“Since the presidential election is up in the air, I didn’t want the Democrats to have control of the entire system of government,” Johnson said.

For Jordan Colquitt, voting in the runoff was important for him “to make a difference.”

Colquitt said he tends to vote for the individual, but leans toward the Democratic ticket.

He rejected the incumbent Republicans and voted for Ossoff and Warnock.

“The two incumbents haven’t done much for the pandemic in my opinion,” Colquitt said.

B.J. Hood also cast her ballot for Ossoff and Warnock.

“Voting is a way of speaking, of being heard,” Hood said. “I am using my vote for the individual candidate who is really for the people … the everyday person.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 8:29 AM.