Three polling locations in Georgia have been granted extended voting hours to ensure that voters have the full 12 hours of voting available to them.
The changes are not expected to delay the reporting of voting results.
Officials from DeKalb County, Georgia, announced on Tuesday afternoon that the hours were extended at two polling locations that opened late in the morning.
“DeKalb Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson has signed an order approving a petition by the Board of Registration and Elections to extend voting for two DeKalb County polling places that opened late this morning,” the county said in a press release. “This extension was requested, in an abundance of caution, to ensure that all electors at the locations have the required full 12 hours of voting.”
Hours for two DeKalb polling locations have been extended:
Valley Brook precinct, located at Valley Brook Baptist Church, 1198 N. Valley Brook Rd., Decatur, until 7:40 p.m.
Gresham Road precinct, at Obama Elementary School, 3132 Clifton Church Road SE, Atlanta, until 7:45 p.m. pic.twitter.com/fjRJ3Ldf2P
— DeKalb County, GA (@ItsInDeKalb) November 3, 2020
Later in the day, a judge signed another order to keep a precinct in Cobb County open after a poll manager arrived roughly 20 minutes late.
ELECTION UPDATE
A judge has signed an order to keep the Sope Creek 02 precinct opened an additional 20 minutes tonight.
This is the precinct at Sope Creek Elementary.
The precinct opened 20 minutes late due to a late arriving poll manager. pic.twitter.com/14Xzq7s3Ne— Cobb County, GA (@cobbcountygovt) November 3, 2020
CNN’s Lisa Mirando tweeted that the polling hour extensions will not delay Georgia’s statewide reporting, which is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
#CNN: Two polling locations in DeKalb County, Georgia have extended voting past 7pm, since both locations were delayed opening on Election Day. Officials say that this should not delay Georgia’s statewide reporting results at 7p. #CNN #Georgia #ElectionDay
— lisa mirando (@LisaMirandoCNN) November 3, 2020
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is “slightly favored” to win Georgia, according to FiveThirtyEight, eking out a razor-thin 1-point margin in aggregated polling on Election Day. Trump won the state handily in 2016 with a more than 200,000-vote margin, according to the New York Times.
Georgia hasn’t gone for a Democratic president since 1992, when candidate Bill Clinton won the state. It has only voted for one other Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter, since 1964, according to 270toWin.
