ATLANTA — The same day Georgia announced its first confirmed cases of COVID-19, thousands of voters started heading to the polls for early voting.

Georgia’s new touchscreen paper voting machines, paper ballots and scanners will be used by large crowds from now until after the March 24 presidential primary.

In just the first day of early voting, according to the Secretary of State’s office, more than 17,000 Georgians cast ballots in person on the new machines.

Because of the high number of interactions with voting equipment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has outlined steps voters should take to protect themselves while casting their votes.

While Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Department of Public Health commissioner, stressed that the two confirmed cases in Georgia are isolated to one household and a result of international travel, concerns have grown over possible spread of coronavirus throughout the state.

An official with the National Association of Secretaries of State told CNHI that the association is deferring to states’ specific emergency preparedness plans — similar to plans for a natural disaster or power outage.

“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to Georgia’s Presidential Primary due to coronavirus,” Walter Jones, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said in a statement. “We are monitoring developments carefully with our local, state and federal partners as we plan for record turnout during the May statewide primary and the November general elections.”


Under Georgia’s election emergency statutes, if an emergency occurs within 10 days of an election the county superintendent may move the polls to another location whether inside or outside the precinct. Code also states that provisional ballots may be used to cast votes if an emergency renders machines unusable — it is unclear if the statutes would apply to a public health emergency.

Some polling places are more equipped to handle crowds than others, the CDC recommends poll workers double-check bathroom soap dispensers to make sure there is enough for the estimated number of voters. Poll workers should provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer to use before or after contact with voting machines.

Health officials suggest disinfecting voting equipment regularly. Based on current evidence, according to the CDC, the novel coronavirus may remain contractable for hours to days on surfaces of many materials.

On Tuesday, nearly one-third of America’s voting population is expected to cast ballots in 14 states as part of Super Tuesday that will have a large hand in deciding the Democratic nominee who will run against President Donald Trump.

The national voting day comes after weeks of packed political rallies by Democratic candidates and Trump.

NPR reported that when asked if it was safe to be holding political rallies amid the current threat of coronavirus, Trump responded, “I think it’s very safe. Yeah. I think it’s very safe.”