Yahoo News Georgia Senate election: Voting hours extended at several polling sites
Voting hours ‘extended’ at two polling sites in Georgia
(Megan Varner/Getty Images)Voting hours have been extended at several polling sites in the Georgia runoff election.
A judge ordered the Chatham County Board of Elections to extend the voting times in two locations beyond 7pm ET, after they experienced technical difficulties.
The court order means that the county’s Old Courthouse polling station will stay open until 7.33pm ET, and Beach High School will close at 7.35pm ET, according to WSAV.
JUST IN: The Chatham County Board of Elections has received a court order from the offices of Judge Bass to extend the voting times of the following polls: Old Courthouse - Extended to 7:33 pm & Beach High School – Extended to 7:35 pm @WSAV pic.twitter.com/UPk3kF5fbj
— Ricardo Lewis (@RicardoWSAV) January 5, 2021
"A power outage, or something happened that knocked the power out at the polling location, which stalled the ability for citizens to vote for about 35 minutes," said Chatham Elections Board Member Antwan Lang.
"It's only right that we keep the polling location open for another 35 minutes to allow any citizens that were not able to stay for that time to give them access to the ballot."
One of the state’s top election officials, Gabriel Sterling, has also confirmed that one polling site in Tift County will stay open until 7:40 p.m.
Polling locations in Columbia and Gwinnett counties have been ordered to stay open a few minutes late as well, says the Associated Press.
A number of other counties have applied for extensions but have yet to receive judicial approval.
Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are both involved in tight races with Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
If Mr Ossoff and Mr Warnock can win both races it will give Democrats control of the senate as vice-president elect Kamala Harris will break all ties once sworn in.
The Republicans need to win just one of the seats in order to give Mitch McConnell control of the high chamber again.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into the state and it is set to be one fo the most expensive elections in US history.
The polls close across the state at 7pm ET and Mr Ossoff has urged anyone still in line to stay and ensure that they have their votes counted.
Read More
Tyler Perry travels home to Georgia to vote in person
When do the polls in Georgia close and when can we expect the results?
Biden makes last-minute radio appeal in Georgia
Trump brings election conspiracies to Georgia on eve of Senate runoff
