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Sam Levine in New York
Fri 12 Jun 2020
Voters in Georgia’s primary election this week struggled with long lines, new equipment and social distancing. Photograph: MohammadJavad Jahangir/Rex/Shutterstock
The alarm bells have been going off for months, but the election fiasco in Georgia on Tuesday made it clear: America is ill-prepared to hold a fair presidential vote in November, and is dangerously close to having an election disaster.
The Georgia contest offered the most alarming preview to date of what could happen in November without major overhauls, training and planning. Voters stood in line to vote for upwards of four hours, saying they never received mail-in ballots requested weeks ago. Local officials, forced to consolidate polling locations because of Covid-19, were unable to manage the influx of voters and struggled to operate new voting equipment.