In Gwinnett County, Georgia, a few precincts experienced extended technical delays, while in South Carolina, some voting machines were lacking power or necessary activation devices. There was also confusion in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, where several polling places were changed last minute. In Chandler, Arizona, voters arrived at a locked polling place due to rent nonpayment, but officials later reopened the location. In Houston, a worker was removed from a polling site and charged with assault after a racially charged dispute with a voter. Issues with voting are common on election day and can take days or weeks to understand. The number of calls to voting hotlines from advocacy groups has surpassed those from the last midterm election in 2014. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which oversees 20 election call centres, reported receiving 24,000 phone calls by 5 pm on Tuesday, compared to 14,000 at the same time in 2014. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas were identified as particularly problematic states. These issues may further unsettle voters already anxious from the 2016 election and ongoing concerns about Russian interference and unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud by President Trump. Tensions have increased due to a contentious debate over the accessibility of voter registration, early voting, and polling sites for Americans. Election experts note a decline in the protection of minority voting rights since the Supreme Court's ruling on the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Some states have faced issues leading to extended voting hours, such as a judge ordering nine polling locations in Harris County, Texas to stay open an extra hour. Similar efforts are being made in Maricopa County, Arizona by a coalition of groups. In Georgia, a local judge in Gwinnett County kept multiple sites open for voting, including Annistown Elementary School, where voting hours were extended by over two hours. Precincts in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, were also kept open for several hours. One of the precincts, Forbes Arena, had hosted a rally for Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams and former President Barack Obama the previous Friday. The state's elections system was a highly debated issue during the campaign between Abrams and her Republican opponent Brian Kemp, who is also the secretary of state and responsible for overseeing elections. Abrams and her supporters accused Kemp of trying to limit voter turnout through strict interpretations of state laws and procedures. Kemp claimed he was just trying to prevent cheating and dismissed claims of voter suppression as ridiculous. While some Georgia voters experienced long lines, others had a smooth voting experience. Kemp stated that everything was running normally, with people asking typical questions about voting. However, some voters, like Ontaria Woods, faced long lines and voting machine issues at Annistown Elementary School in Snellville, Georgia. Woods reported waiting nearly five hours to vote after arriving at 7 am when the polls opened. After approximately 30 to 45 minutes, individuals waiting in line were informed by poll workers of an issue with the ExpressPoll voting machines, according to her. She mentioned that people were not surprised and the term 'voter suppression' was frequently mentioned. Some voters decided against provisional ballots out of fear that their votes would not be counted, while others left to purchase food and water from a Walmart. The machines were eventually repaired by 11 am, and Woods was able to vote around 45 minutes later, arriving late to work as a result. Gwinnett, a diverse area near Atlanta that has traditionally been Republican, was won by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Sorenson, a spokesperson for the county government, stated that four precincts in Georgia had problems with the system that generates voter access cards for the electronic polling system. A judge allowed for extended hours at several locations, with one staying open until 9:25 pm, two hours later than planned. Bradford Berry, the general counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, emphasized the importance of ensuring that voting machines in Georgia do not break down in certain areas but not others. While county election officials were partly to blame for the issues, Abigail Collazo, a spokeswoman for Abrams’ campaign, placed the responsibility on Kemp. She commended the high voter turnout in Georgia despite polling location issues. Meanwhile, in Arizona, voting-rights monitors reported significant delays at some sites due to ballot printing problems. The issues mainly occurred in Maricopa County, which is the most populous county in the state. Two years ago, chaos ensued when local polling places were replaced with regional voting centers. Common Cause reported that voters at these centers were either turned away or faced long waits due to malfunctioning printers that were supposed to produce ballots specific to their precincts. Clarke stated that the problems in Maricopa County were some of the most significant seen that day, particularly affecting a large number of minority voters. At four of the affected voting centers, minority voters outnumbered white voters by a significant margin. In South Carolina, the State Election Commission spokesperson mentioned that issues with malfunctioning voting machines were not widespread. "The spokesman, Chris Whitmire, stated in an email that the issues were due to human error in system preparation and have been resolved earlier this morning. The Justice Department sent election monitors to 35 jurisdictions in 19 states, sparking concern among Democrats for Attorney General Jeff Sessions' focus on fraud over civil rights. Common Cause President Karen Flynn expressed concern over the current political climate, citing the lack of collaboration with the Department of Justice, the absence of protections from the Voting Rights Act, and President Trump's intimidating messages to voters. In El Paso, Texas, the Border and Customs Protection agency cancelled a crowd-control exercise near the Mexico border following complaints of voter intimidation from civil-rights groups and Democratic leaders. The exercise was planned near a border crossing close to a polling station used by Latino voters in the Chihuahuita neighborhood." Nina Perales, the voting rights legal director at the Mexican American Legal Defence and Educational Fund, described the incident as ham-handed and insensitive at the very least, and possibly even worse. Not all issues were as serious as initially believed, as a viral video from a polling site in Columbus, Ohio, showed a voter selecting the Republican candidate for governor, Mike DeWine, on an electronic ballot, but the paper record displayed a vote for DeWine's Democratic opponent, Richard Cordray. The video was shared on Facebook with claims that the machine was "rigged." A representative from the Franklin County Board of Elections named Aaron Sellers explained that a specific voting machine had a paper jam, resulting in a previous voter's paper record being printed. The voter was able to cast her ballot again on a functioning machine. The incident was captured on video and shared widely on Twitter, particularly by individuals who follow the QAnon conspiracy theory and support former President Trump.