Georgia voter Richard Hendrix reported that the Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) scanners ran out of battery power at his Fulton County voting location at Heards Ferry Elementary School on Tuesday morning.
Hendrix stated that he filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s office, and sent copies to Senator Burt Jones, Republican Party of Georgia Chairman David Ralston, and Governor Brian Kemp.
In an interview with The Georgia Star News, Hendrix explained that his vote was dropped into a locked box to be scanned later. He asserted that those kinds of issues shouldn’t have occurred at all.
“You can’t tell me there’s a dead battery at 9 a.m. on the day of voting, the only time it’s going to be used. You should’ve checked the machine[s] on Sunday night. That’s [on] the people responsible for the machines, not the volunteer workers that showed up Monday morning,” stated Hendrix. “It wasn’t just me, it [affected] everybody voting in this precinct. It shocks me that we’re having these problems when everyone’s seen nationwide [that] we’ve had these problems with Dominion before.”
After Hendrix experienced his issue with casting his vote, he told The Star News that he searched online to see whether others were experiencing similar issues.
“I discovered on The Gateway Pundit an article about voting irregularities being reported already, where scanners aren’t working throughout the state. One of the men in the article said he’d had his problem at Heards Elementary [like me],” stated Hendrix. “Obviously, it wasn’t a one-off, and it’s happening all over the state. This is not isolated.”
Hendrix added that he and his wife experienced issues earlier this year with the election systems as well.
“[W]hen we voted the last time, [the poll workers] told her she’d already voted. They let her vote, but it was by provisional ballot,” stated Hendrix.
A spokesperson from the Secretary of State’s office told The Star News on background that they weren’t aware of any similar reports coming in. They confirmed that all scanners have a battery, and explained that with nearly 3,700 precincts it wasn’t unusual for workers to forget to plug the machines in because the workers only operate several days out of the year. The spokesperson assured The Star News that the ballots were stored securely until the scanner could be plugged in again.
Fulton County was one subject of several hearings conducted by the Georgia State Senate Judiciary Subcommittee over the last few months. One allegation presented in particular – the “suitcase ballots” video – in part prompted the subcommittee to send a letter to the county election officials requesting that the county turn over all absentee mail-in ballots for forensic inspection. A lawsuit similarly requesting access to Fulton County’s mail-in ballots for inspection was also filed by an election integrity organization. That hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The county also experienced significant issues during both the general election vote processing and the subsequent recounts. Several days after Election Day, the county had to rescan their ballots after discovering that the number scanned didn’t match the total received.
Fulton County’s Election Communication Division Manager, Darryl Carver, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Voting Machine” by KOMUnews. CC BY 2.0.
