ATLANTA — Across the country and within the state, "Georgia," "#VoterSuppression," "Kemp" and "#GAprimary" were trending across Twitter as word quickly spread across the nation of voter issues and extremely long lines at polling locations.
NBA superstar LeBron James quickly commented on a tweet by Laura Barrón-López, a national political reporter at Politco, who stated it took LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, three hours to vote.
"Everyone talking about “how do we fix this?” They say “go out and vote?” What about asking if how we vote is also structurally racist?," the tweet read.
Another national journalist, Dan Rather, called what's happening in Georgia a "debacle."
"So much news today, but don't overlook the voting debacle happening right now in Georgia. This is a dire wakeup call for November - long lines, broken machines. It is a national outrage that undermines the legitimacy of our democracy," Rather tweeted.
Joe Biden's campaign released a statement following the voting issues in Georgia. Rachana Desai Martin, Biden for President National Director for Voter Protection and Senior Counsel said what happened Tuesday is "completely unacceptable."
The full statement reads:
"Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. What we see in Georgia today, from significant issues with voting machines to breakdowns in the delivery of ballots to voters who requested to vote absentee, are a threat to those values, and are completely unacceptable. We only have a few months left until voters around the nation head to the polls again, and efforts should begin immediately to ensure that every Georgian -- and every American -- is able to safely exercise their right to vote. Our campaign will remain fully engaged in defending that right."
Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, both Democratic presidential candidates at one point chimed in as well.
Harris, a U.S. Senator and front-runner to become Joe Biden's running mate tweeted: "#VoterSuppression is happening right now across Georgia, particularly in Black communities. We can't let this happen in November."
Warren, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts urged Georgia voters to report issues while at the polls.
Hillary Clinton took to Twitter to thank Georgians for their determination to cast ballots "despite the failure of officials to provide enough polling places or machines."
Significant voting system failures have been reported throughout the metro Atlanta area, from malfunctioning voting machines to precinct locations with no new machines whatsoever, in an ominous sign for Georgia's much-contested new voting system.
In many instances voters have headed to the polls, donning masks and spacing themselves out in line amid the coronavirus pandemic, only to find themselves waiting hours with no progress in sight.
It appears Fulton and DeKalb Counties had the most issues.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed county leaders and has since opened an investigation into the problems.
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