Atlanta, Georgia: Fulton County Warns Voters About Fake Polling Place Texts as About 1,000 Early Ballots Are Rescanned

Fulton County warned voters on Tuesday that text messages telling some voters their polling place had changed did not come from the county, as Georgians cast ballots in the midterm elections.

The county posted the warning on its social media accounts at about 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Some voters had received texts about polling place changes, and the messages caused confusion, the Savannah Morning News reported. The county said the texts were not sent by Fulton County, and it told voters to check their own polling place at mvp.sos.ga.gov or by calling (404) 612-7020.

A second problem: ballots to be rescanned

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told a press conference that about 1,000 ballots cast during early voting in Fulton County will have to be rescanned because of equipment issues. He said the rescan will not affect how quickly the county reports its results on Tuesday night.

Fulton County covers most of Atlanta and holds more voters than any other county in Georgia, so a confusing message or a counting problem there reaches more people than anywhere else in the state. Election officials gave no sign on Tuesday that the texts had kept voters from casting ballots, and the county did not say who sent them.

A record early vote in Georgia

Georgia went into Election Day with 2,827,060 ballots already cast in early voting, an unofficial total from the Secretary of State's office, and early turnout set a state record for a midterm. By 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 300,686 more Georgians had voted in person, and Raffensperger forecast about 1.2 million Election Day voters in all.

The Fulton warning was one of several Election Day problems reported at polling places across the country. In New York, scanners failed across Westchester County. In Ohio, bomb threats emptied a Toledo polling place for about two hours. In Florida, flooding moved more than 20 polling sites. The Fulton case stood out because the problem arrived on voters' phones, not at the polling place door.

What Fulton County voters should do

Voters who received a text about a polling place change should ignore the text and check the state's My Voter Page at mvp.sos.ga.gov, or call the county at (404) 612-7020. Georgia polls close at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, and voters in line at closing time can still vote. Officials have not said who sent the messages or how many voters received them.