Georgia voters face long waits as early voting begins in pivotal elections

Midterm elections will decide contested rematch between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp and which party controls the US Senate

Today marks the first day of early voting in Georgia, the first major election for the critical state since the signing of the controversial Election Integrity Act, which brought forth new voting restrictions. Within the first few hours of the start of the election day, there were reports of disruption in service from polling places throughout the state, and later in the day voters at some stations saw two-hour lines.

Still, voters and election officials remain optimistic about the midterm elections, which will decide the strongly contested rematch between gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, and which party controls the United States Senate with the election between Senator Raphael Warnock and controversial figure Herschel Walker.