Former US Attorney Says ‘The GOP Wants To Pick Their Voters’ After Georgia Election Issues

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Alene took to Twitter to condemn the election issues experienced in Georgia’s primary election on Tuesday. The University of Alabama law professor made a bold claim about the Republican Party after a variety of problems came to light when residents in the Peach State went to the polls to cast their votes.

“After watching the election in Georgia today, it’s clear the GOP wants to pick their voters instead of letting the voters pick their leaders,” Alene tweeted.

Twitter users responded to the attorney’s tweet with nearly 64,000 likes and more than 17,400 retweets. Plus, almost 700 accounts took the time to reply to her thoughts.

“At some point, the efforts of the GA Secretary of State to limit voting by reducing polling places has to be a constitutional violation because of the adverse impact upon the right to vote. Might also argue that the impact of lost wages for extended waits equates to a poll tax,” wrote one account.

“They can’t win on policy. They can’t win on having the moral high ground. They have to cheat,” read another reply.

“ACLU legal observers were at my precinct taking notes and asking questions,” a third account reported.

“This is ridiculous,” says Anita Heard, a 80-year-old who was first in line to vote at 6 this morning and is still waiting to cast her ballot. “Of course,” she says when I ask her if she plans to stay. “I worked for 40 years — where else am I going?” #gapol pic.twitter.com/4Cd8nwagG9

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) June 9, 2020

One 80-year-old voter named Anita Heard said that she and many others began standing in line to vote in the Georgia election at 6 a.m., and they had to wait for hours to cast their ballots. She called the situation unfair and could not believe that it was happening in the United States.

According to a CNN report, some voters reported that they stood in line at several precincts for more than four hours during the Georgia primary, and some polling places stayed open late due to the lines of people waiting to cast their ballots. Due to the delays and other voting problems, several authorities in the state, including its secretary of state and state house speaker, called for investigations into the situation.

Although there were some reports of malfunctioning equipment, officials in Georgia blamed the long lines on the coronavirus pandemic and inexperienced poll workers. Also, the state’s voting implementation manager Gabriel Sterling said that Georgia lost several polling locations because churches opted out and schools were closed amid COVID-19. Fulton County ended up losing 40 sites and being combined into large precincts, and that is where the state saw long wait times. Some voters also reported that they were struggling with voting machines.

Some officials blamed county choices for a large number of the issues Georgians experienced while voting on Tuesday. Others, like Alene, blamed the problems on the Republican Party. Until the investigations are completed, it is unclear where the blame for the situation truly lies.