A county judge ordered one precinct in Fulton County to stay open until 11 p.m. Tuesday after a lockdown closed the polling place earlier in the day, keeping voters there in line well past the usual close as two contests for seats on the Georgia Supreme Court moved toward a decision.
The late order affected only one precinct, and state election officials said the rest of Fulton County was still expected to report results at a normal cadence. The contests were set to be decided Tuesday night, with Jen Auer Jordan challenging incumbent Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren and Miracle Rankin challenging incumbent Justice Charlie Bethel.
The Georgia Supreme Court election is technically nonpartisan, but the politics around it have been anything but. The Georgia Democratic Party was backing Jordan and Rankin, while Republican Gov. Brian Kemp was supporting Warren and Bethel. Early voting turnout in Georgia had already been dominated by Democrats, adding another layer of attention to how the final count would land.
The county judge’s order came as the state was already watching a broader election night in which Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District Republican primary had turned into the most expensive congressional primary on record, with a $33 million price tag. In that race, Representative Thomas Massie faced Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, while in Kentucky’s Senate primary, Representative Andy Barr won the Republican nomination after receiving President Trump’s endorsement as former majority leader Mitch McConnell prepared to retire from the Senate.
For Fulton County voters caught by the lockdown, the day’s message was simple: their precinct would remain open, and their votes would still count. For the rest of Georgia, the question was less about access than timing, as the final results from the two Supreme Court contests were expected Tuesday night and the state waited to see whether the Democratic-heavy early vote would be enough to shift the balance in races backed by some of the state’s most powerful political figures.
