CBS Atlanta 46Georgia House election confuses voters

Voters casting ballots in the March 6 presidential primary and a special runoff election for one house district in Georgia find themselves in a unique situation.

They will need to fill out two sets of paperwork and vote on two separate sets of equipment.

"Confusion is never a good thing," said Paul Smith, who is running for House District 107, which includes parts of eastern Gwinnett and western Walton Counties. "It's a bit unfortunate. Any time there's confusion, voters don't always get the accurate information." 

Smith is facing a runoff with Tom Kirby for the house seat. Both candidates worry voters will fail to cast their ballots in the special election because of the confusion.

"I think that's what would really hurt," Kirby. "If there's a big turnout for the presidential primary and all of a sudden people have to wait in two big lines, then that second line may not be something they're willing to do." 

Gwinnett County has sent a letter to affected voters, alerting them that they need two ballots. 

Elections officials said the two ballots are necessary because certain residents did not register in time and are not eligible to vote in the house race.

"It's a very unique situation," said Lynn Ledford, who has served as the county's elections director for 25 years. "We've never had this in Gwinnett County before."

Ledford said she hopes the letters the county sent, along with additional training for poll workers, will help eliminate any confusion.  

"We actually brought in the poll workers for those 15 precincts. They've had special training," said Ledford.  "We've also tried to give them some training also so that when they're dealing with the voters they don't get angry because they don't understand the situation."  

Both candidates said they are busy trying to inform voters that they may need two separate ballots.  There is one thing the two opponents agree on in these final weeks before the election.

"We hope that people will still go to the polls," said Smith.

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