Brisk voter turnout reported at local polls

Whether it was Tuesday’s nice weather or the relentless campaign ads, some poll workers say the Nov. 4 turnout was higher than they expected.

Poll manager Victor Riggen at University Baptist Church said that by noon some 485 citizens had cast ballots at the Brookhaven voting place.

“It’s a little higher than normal. [It’s] not like a Presidential election, but for an off year, it’s been good,” Riggen said.

Riggen, who’s been working the polls at the church for 18 years, said that the number would likely have been higher if it wasn’t for early voting. He said that at 7 a.m. some 25 people were already lined up.

DeKalb County election officials reported voting was “brisk” across the county.

In Buckhead, more than 90 voters were in line to vote in the early afternoon. The line snaked down a hallway at St. James United Methodist Church.

“It’s been booming,” said poll manager Jimmi Littles. “We can’t even get a break.”

By about 2:20 p.m., 1,146 had cast ballots at the St. James polling place, Littles said. Roughly 4,500 voters were registered in the two precincts voting at the church, he said. The start of voting was delayed at the precinct for about 35 minutes due to computer problems, he said.

“I’ve been poll manager for about three elections in this precinct and this is the largest [number of voters] I’ve seen,” Little said. “People want to vote. It’s a tight race. All the candidates are good, so people are really coming out to support their candidates.”

Buckhead voter Tony Casadonte noticed the higher turnout, too, when he went to the Cathedral of St. Philip to cast his ballot. “It was interesting to me the contracts between the primary and today,” he said. “There was nobody here the last couple of times. The poll workers outnumbered the voters the last time I was here.”

Inside the cathedral, more than 50 people stood in line to vote about 2:50 p.m. “It moved rather quickly,” said voter Frank Gihan, who came to the poll with Anthony Mason to record their choices in the races for U.S. Senate and Georgia governor.

In Sandy Springs poll worker Ed Feldstein at Hammond Park Gymnasium said that the voting had been “non-stop,” with more than 500 ballots cast by noon.

“I’ve never seen one this involved,” he said. “I think they are ready for this election to be over with.”

–-Joe Earle contributed to this report.

Frank Gihan, left, and Anthony Mason