Counties See Decreased Wait Times, Streamlined Check-In Thanks to Pilot Project

Atlanta – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is pleased to announce the successful implementation of a pilot program designed to decrease voter check-in times across the State. In conjunction with 18 counties, the Secretary of State’s office is piloting a new Early Voting check-in process that makes voter check-in faster and decreases the opportunity for data entry errors.

“With three weeks of Early Voting, our in-person voting experience is already one of the best in the country,” said State Elections Director Blake Evans. “This improvement makes the check-in process even faster for voters, and it reinforces our commitment to support Georgia election officials and their poll workers.”

Traditionally, early voters have had to complete and sign a paper application to check in. With this new process, the check-in is entirely on a Poll Pad, which is very similar to the voter experience on Election Day. At the end of the transaction, a poll worker prints a paper copy that the county keeps as evidence of the check-in.

“Our Elections Division is constantly looking to innovate the voter experience and better serve our customers,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “Small improvements like this cut down on wait times and help reduce the possibility of bottlenecks during the check-in process. That’s a win for the voter, the poll manager, the candidates on the ballot – everyone.”

This new streamlined check-in solution has received rave reviews from county officials who have been part of the pilot program. Specifically, the new process has been praised for its speed, accuracy, reliability, and ease-of-use. The Secretary of State’s office hopes to have this process in place statewide for the 2024 Presidential election.

“The [Early Voting] Poll Pads and printers process is the best thing to happen in elections in a long time. The poll workers love it. The office staff loves it. The voters love it. The parties and poll watchers love it. The process eliminates poll worker data entry errors, saving our office at least 25 work hours a week finding errors, fixing errors and balancing,” said Deb Cox, Lowndes County Election Director. “Because of the new process, this has been the best [Early Voting] for any election we have conducted to date. The difference is amazing.”

Janine Eveler, Cobb County’s Election Director, said this: “We are very excited about the pilot and consider it a resounding success. It has greatly reduced the amount of time it takes a voter to check-in…there are fewer clerical errors with the new process.”

Counties participating in the 2022 Pilot are:

1. Banks

2. Burke

3. Charlton

4. Cherokee

5. Cobb

6. Douglas

7. Glynn

8. Hall

9. Houston

10. Irwin

11. Jackson

12. Lee

13. Lowndes

14. Morgan

15. Oconee

16. Paulding

17. Stephens

18. Thomas