ATLANTA — Georgians went to the polls on Tuesday for the presidential primary race.
With Georgia emerging as a battleground state in recent years, all eyes are on the state as it will likely have a direct impact on who is elected president in November.
It's important to note that this election is only for 2024 presidential candidates. Georgia residents will return to polls on May 21 for a second primary for other important races, such as U.S. Congress and seats in the state legislature.
On Primary Day, polling places closed at 7 p.m. for most locations.
Below are live updates from the day.
Live updates
8:11 p.m. | Gabriel Sterling, with the state's Secretary of State's Office, posted on social media that POST-certified investigators were in the field around Georgia to ensure voting went smoothly. He said there were 396 inspections in 103 counties.
8:10 p.m. | Georgia Secretary of State confirmed that it's safe to say the state voted for Joe Biden to be the Democratic Presidential Nominee and Donald Trump to be the Republican Presidential Nominee. He also said that people's votes were secure and that he expects the November Presidential Election to be similar to 2020 with a high turnout rate.
Re-watch the full conference below:
7:30 p.m. | Fulton County officials held a news conference after a Board of Registration and Elections meeting. They said the election process went smoothly and that the county's previous cyberattack had no effect on the presidential primary. In addition, officials said they "successfully serviced over 40,000 voters during advanced voting" and an estimated over 16,000 on election day.
7:10 p.m. | The Associated Press calls Joe Biden the Democratic Presidential Nominee and Donald Trump the Republican Party Nominee.
6:10 p.m. | 11Alive's Joe Ripley talked with voters about the top issues driving them to the polls.
5:30 p.m. | Gabriel Sterling with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office gave an update stating that the election process has been smooth sailing so far. That said, there are two precincts open until 7:20 p.m.: Oregon 02 in Cobb County at Worship With Wonders Church at 1887 Powder Springs Road in Marietta, and the other is Gwinnett Beaver Ridge Elementary.
Sterling said so far, they've broken a little over three-quarters of a million voters altogether. That includes early voting. He also said today, we're looking at close to a 4.5% turnout, and overall, we're about an 11% turnout. He estimates that there could potentially be 800,000 voters, but this number is unknown now.
Re-watch the news conference below:
5:17 p.m. | Gwinnett County posted on social media that because of a delayed opening this morning, one polling location will be open until 7:20 p.m. That location is Beaver Ridge Elementary School (Precinct 50, located at 1978 Beaver Ruin Road, Norcross.
5:00 p.m. | 11Alive's La'Tasha Givens reported from Gwinnett County stating that some Georgia voters who are still headed to the polls despite low turnout said election integrity, inflation and crime are issues that are important to them.
2:48 p.m. | Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger's Office will provide an update at 5:30 p.m. closer to when most polls close.
2:26 p.m. | Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said there have been no major issues in the Georgia presidential primary so far during a news conference. He also said that four or five precincts will be open past 7 p.m. due to localized issues. The Secretary of State did not specify which precincts will stay open past the time.
Re-Watch the full news conference below.
1:20 p.m. | Cobb County Superior Court Judge Ann B. Harris orders voting precinct Oregon 02 to remain open until 7:20 p.m. due to the elections team being unable to open at 7 a.m. The precinct is located at Worship With Wonders Church at 1887 Powder Springs Road in Marietta.
12:54 p.m. | The conference has been canceled. Next one is set for 2:30 p.m.
12:33 p.m. | No sign yet of a second news conference happening, Gabriel Sterling did sort of imply at the last one that a second one may not happen if there turned out not to be anything real serious to update on.
11:48 a.m. | Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger will provide a midday update at 12:30 p.m. We'll be streaming that in the video player above this story.
11:10 a.m. | Georgia Governor Brian Kemp provides an update on the primary election. He urges residents to get out and vote now and in the general election in November.
11:12 a.m. | When asked who Kemp would support, he says he will support the nominee "because he is better than Joe Biden."
10:57 a.m. | Sterling listed off some of what he called "hiccups" across the state this morning.
- Gwinnett County: 4 precincts where they forgot to bring the voter cards, which are the credit-card sized, usually blank white plastic cards that election works code your information into before you vote. You stick them in the machine and it pulls up a ballot for you. Sterling said in Gwinnett they were able to use ballot activation codes in that instance instead, "so no voting was slowed down."
- Charlton County: 2 precincts started late because they couldn't find the keys to the doors. They were delayed about 15 minutes and have gone to a judge to extend the close of polls tonight by 15 minutes, Sterling said,
- Screven County: There was a paper jam with the scanner at one precinct that was fixed.
- Columbia County: There was a configuration issue with the poll pads, which is how voters get started and registered at the voting location, so to speak. Sterling said voting did not stop and that they were able to use a mix of ballot activation codes and emergency paper ballots to keep things running.
- Cobb County: Some voters were sent incorrect precinct cards. The cards are mailed out in advance of elections and tell you where to go. Sterling noted that voters can always ensure they know their correct location by visiting the My Voter Page website.
10:27 a.m. | Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in the Sec. of State's Office, came out instead of Raffensperger for the first update of the day. He's going through some of the issues counties have seen so far but otherwise says overall things are going smoothly.
There's been about 1% of registered voters turning out so far, he said, and with early votes an overall turnout so far of about 6.5% -- Sterling notes that isn't very large and chalks it up to Biden and Trump already being the presumptive nominees.
10:20 a.m. | Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger will be providing updates throughout the day, and his first is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. We'll be streaming that in the video player above this story.
7:10 a.m. | One thing to keep in mind today as you head to the polls -- Georgia is an open primary state, meaning you can pick a Republican or Democratic ballot regardless of which party you belong to or usually prefer.
Also, if you experience any difficulties at the polls, let us know on Facebook, X, or email us at news@11alive.com. You can also submit tips via the 11Alive App which is available from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
7:00 a.m. | Polls are now open. While the race is presumably set between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, election observers will be looking to see what kind of turnout Georgia sees and whether protest voting movements gain any traction.
Read more from 11Alive's Karys Belger on a coalition that is urging Democratic voters to leave their ballots blank as a protest on the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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