In Gwinnett County, Georgia, there were technical delays in four out of 156 precincts. Some voting machines in South Carolina had power issues, while in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, confusion arose due to changes in polling places. In Chandler, Arizona, voters found a polling place closed due to unpaid rent, but it was later reopened. In Houston, a worker was removed from a polling site and faced an assault charge after a racially charged dispute with a voter. Difficulties with voting on election day are a common occurrence, and it may take days or even weeks to understand the extent of the problems. However, the number of calls to voting hotlines run by various advocacy groups has surpassed the amount received during 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 four years ago. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, highlighted Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas as particularly troublesome states. Any issues encountered this year are likely to unsettle an electorate already on edge following the controversial 2016 election, which has been scrutinized for Russian interference and President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. Tensions have increased due to a contentious debate over the accessibility of voter registration, early voting, and polling sites for Americans. Experts on elections have noted a decrease in the protection of minority voting rights since the Supreme Court's decision to overturn key provisions of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Issues have arisen in multiple states, resulting in extended hours at polling locations. In response to complaints from civil rights organizations, a judge in Texas ordered nine polling locations in Harris County to stay open an additional hour. A coalition of groups in Maricopa County, Arizona, was also seeking similar accommodations. A judge in Georgia kept multiple locations in Gwinnett County open, including Annistown Elementary School, for voting to continue for over two hours. Some precincts in Fulton County, which includes parts of Atlanta, were also open for several hours. One of the precincts, Forbes Arena, had a rally last Friday with Stacey Abrams and Barack Obama. The election system in Georgia was a major issue during the campaign between Abrams, who aimed to be the first African-American woman governor, and her Republican opponent Brian Kemp, who is also the secretary of state. Abrams and her supporters accused Kemp of attempting to suppress votes through strict interpretations of state laws and procedures. Kemp contended that his goal was to prevent cheating and dismissed claims of voter suppression as unfounded. While some polling places in Georgia experienced long lines, others had a smooth voting process. Kemp stated that everything was running normally and that there were no unusual issues. However, some voters in Georgia faced challenges, such as long wait times and voting machine problems at Annistown Elementary School in Gwinnett County. One voter, Ontaria Woods, mentioned that it took her nearly five hours to cast her vote. Poll workers informed people waiting in line after 30 to 45 minutes about a problem with the ExpressPoll voting machines. Many people were not surprised and there were concerns of voter suppression. Some voters refused provisional ballots out of fear they would not be counted, and a few went to Walmart to buy food and water. The machines were repaired around 11 am, and Woods was able to vote about 45 minutes later, making her late for work. Gwinnett, a diverse area near Atlanta, has traditionally been a Republican stronghold, but Hillary Clinton won the county in 2016. A representative of the county government, Joe Sorenson, mentioned that four precincts in Georgia had problems with the system that generates voter access cards for the electronic polling system. A judge extended the voting hours at multiple locations, with one staying open until 9:25 pm instead of the original 7 pm closing time. Bradford Berry, the general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, emphasized the importance of ensuring that voting machines in Georgia are not malfunctioning in certain areas over others. While county election officials were held responsible for some of the issues in Georgia, a spokesperson for Abrams' campaign, Abigail Collazo, blamed Kemp for the problems. In Arizona, voting-rights monitors reported significant delays at some polling sites due to ballot printing issues. The issues were primarily focused on Maricopa County, the most populous county in the state, where a transition from local polling places to regional voting centers created chaos two years ago. Common Cause reported that voters at the regional centers faced difficulties such as being turned away or experiencing long waits due to malfunctioning printers that were supposed to produce ballots specific to their home precincts. According to Clarke, these problems in Maricopa County were some of the most significant seen that day, particularly affecting a large number of minority voters. In four of the affected voting centers, minority voters - including Latinos, African-Americans, and Native Americans - outnumbered white voters by a significant margin. In contrast, South Carolina had limited issues with malfunctioning voting machines, according to a spokesperson for the State Election Commission. "The issues were caused by human error in preparing the system and were mostly resolved this morning," said spokesperson Chris Whitmire in an email. The Justice Department sent election monitors to 35 jurisdictions in 19 states, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions' focus on fraud as well as civil rights raised concerns among Democrats. Common Cause President Karen Flynn remarked on the current political climate, expressing worries about the lack of cooperation from the Department of Justice, the absence of protections from the Voting Rights Act, and the intimidating messages coming from the president. In El Paso, Texas, the Border and Customs Protection agency cancelled an exercise near the Mexico border after complaints of voter intimidation from civil rights groups and Democratic leaders. The exercise was planned near a heavily Latino neighborhood and polling station. Nina Perales, the legal director of the Mexican American Legal Defence and Educational Fund, described the situation as being clumsy and lacking sensitivity at the least, and possibly more serious. Not all issues turned out to be as malicious as some had feared. A video that went viral from a polling site in Columbus, Ohio, showed a voter selecting the Republican candidate for governor, Mike DeWine, on an electronic ballot. However, the paper record in the video displayed a vote for DeWine's Democratic opponent, Richard Cordray. The individual who shared the video on Facebook claimed that it demonstrated a tampered machine. According to Aaron Sellers, a spokesperson for the Franklin County Board of Elections, the machine in question had a paper jam which caused a previous voter's paper record to print. The voter was able to recast her ballot on a working machine. The incident was widely shared on Twitter, especially by users associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.