ATLANTA— All Voting is Local Georgia State Director Aklima Khondoker issued the following statement in response to reports of unnecessary obstacles voters faced on Friday, the last day of early voting in Georgia, including: waits of up to seven hours to cast a ballot, polling place closures, and a backlog of absentee ballot applications.

Khondoker urged Georgia officials to act now to prevent such problems in the Tuesday, June 9 primary:

“As Georgians vote during this painful time of protests and pandemic, we should be safe when casting a ballot.

Georgia officials must do their job and make voting safe and accessible.

All Voting is Local Georgia and more than 10 civil rights organizations recently called on Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and State Election Board members to establish uniform standards and provide funding to counties to fix widespread ballot processing problems, voting delays, and unsafe conditions at polling places.

The letter urges officials to ensure all polling places are adequately staffed, proper sanitation measures are in place, and that no voter waits more than 30 minutes to cast a ballot.