By Mark Woolsey
Voters stood in long lines and records were set as the three-week early voting period for the 2026 midterm election wrapped up Friday.
In Cobb County, voters stood in considerable lines, as delays anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes were reported at some of the more popular spots. By the end of the day, more than 227,332 people had trooped to the polls in Cobb, a cumulative number for the early voting period. That number was on the state elections division website. Those figures are unofficial until the county elections board certifies the results.
Across Georgia 2 million, 704 thousand, 553 ballots had been accepted in the count posted early Friday. And 118, 645 absentee ballots had been accepted. The numbers broke the state’s midterm turnout numbers established in 2022.
Cobb County Commission Chair Lisa Cupid held a news conference on Friday, seeking to remind residents about voting procedures.
“We want residents to be able to vote as smoothly and easily as possible,” said Cupid, outlining that voters will want to check the state’s my voter page to verify their registration and view a sample ballot before leaving for the polls. It was unclear whether the Cobb elections website yield wait time information at various polling places for election day itself, as washas done during the early voting period.
On election day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Unlike during the early voting period when voters could pick and choose where they voted among more than a dozen designated sites, election day will see them limited to their assigned polling places.
And there’s this: if a voter is in line to cast a ballot at polling place by 7 p.m, that voter should stay in line, because as long as they’re in line, they can cast their ballot.