Election Day 2018: Voters Head to the Polls, and America Waits for Answers
Joe Sorenson, a spokesman for the county, said the precincts had reported issues with the system that creates voter access cards for Georgia’s electronic polling system. At the three where problems lingered at midmorning, people were being allowed to cast paper ballots.
“We’ve got people who are voting with the paper ballots, and we’ve got people who are standing to wait for the machines to be fixed, and we’ve got people who said they are planning to come back,” said Mr. Sorenson, who did not have an estimate for when the three precincts would return to electronic balloting.
Mr. Sorenson said that the one precinct that had resumed normal operations was likely to extend its hours because the poll manager did not offer paper ballots when the troubles were first detected. Mr. Sorenson said the county was asking a judge to extend the hours beyond the scheduled 7 p.m. closing time.
Gwinnett, a rapidly diversifying patchwork of suburbs, has long been a Republican stronghold, but Hillary Clinton carried the county in 2016.
— Alan Blinder
‘With Trump, everything’s changed’
CHAPMANVILLE, W.Va. — Voters trickled into the local high school on a warm raining morning. Many said they came more for Mr. Trump than for any local candidate.
“This is the first time in a long time I feel like I’m making a difference,” said Chance Bradley, a hardware store worker. He said he came to vote for a measure on the West Virginia ballot that would effectively end state funding for abortion. “With Trump, everything’s changed. Now people are out talking about what’s going on. I actually hear voices talking about things that matter. I feel like an American again.”
But others came because they didn’t like Mr. Trump.
“The truth ain’t in him,” said Carl Blevins, 60, a retired coal miner who said he voted for Senator Joe Manchin, the Democratic incumbent. He said he could not understand how miners could vote for the Republican candidate, Patrick Morrisey, who he believes will cut benefits for retired miners. “I don’t know what’s wrong with these people. They’ll fight you over Trump. I can’t understand it. I think they put something in the water.”