Long early voting lines stretched across Metro Atlanta on Saturday, including in Gwinnett, Henry, DeKalb and Fulton counties.
Voters waited for hours to cast their ballots for the upcoming Senate runoff election between incumbent Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
“We talk about a lot of the crazy and challenging things we’re facing here in Georgia, so my thing is why not come out and vote, play my part and make a difference,” said Joshua Wilson.
“It probably took me roughly two to three hours,” said Wilson.
Wilson was one of many voters who waited in the long lines in Henry County.
He was determined to vote early because he works during the week.
“I was going to stand in those lines, whether one hour, two hours, three hours,” said Wilson.
He wasn’t alone. Voters in DeKalb County also waited.
“It’s the longest line I’ve been in a while but it makes me happy to see that this many people are out to vote,” said Jane Phillips.
“You can see the turnout and enthusiasm is incredible. I’m so happy DeKalb County has shown up in droves, and it’s still early,” said John O’Brian.
People came out in numbers on Saturday to take advantage of the early Saturday voting across the Metro.
Long lines were wrapped around the building at the Ponce De Leon voting location.
Hannah Gebresilassie with the nonprofit Protect the Vote said the long lines are a good thing, because the early voting weekend almost didn’t happen due to several court appeals. Recently, the courts ruled that there should be Saturday early voting.
“And guess what, all sides of the aisle, are taking advantage of today and encouraging, their people to get out to the polls and that’s what we were hoping to see,” Gebresilassie said.
In Gwinnett County, officials said as of Saturday afternoon, there were about 11,000 people who had already voted. They’re expecting that number to reach at least 15,000 when polls close.