LEESBURG, GA (WALB) -
Georgia voters seem to be taking advantage of early voting but the state's Department of Justice says their cracking down on any misconduct.
The department's Election Day Program is aimed at eliminating election fraud and discrimination at the polls.
The lines at the polls on November 6th won't be as long this election season due the amount of people coming out early to vote. And officials say, the more the merrier.
"Ideally, we'd like to have 40, 45 percent of the people that are eligible to vote, vote prior to November 6th because that will keep the lines down on election day and make the process run very smoothly," said Veronica Johnson, Lee County Elections Supervisor.
Mandy Roberts is a Lee County registered voter and mother to her one year old son. She says she'll take any chance to vote before the big Election Day.
"I can come out anytime during the day, plus you know I don't have to wait in line, I don't have to worry about coming out and facing all the other voters on November 6th," said Mandy Roberts, Georgia Voter.
But election officials with the state's department of justice says they're cracking down this election season, making sure things like voter fraud and discrimination don't happen in southwest Georgia.
"For all of us to feel good about the votes that are counted, we need to know that it's the safety and accuracy of those votes have been insured to the best of our abilities," Mary Hart, Georgia Voter.
And local voters say showing proper identification in order to vote is just another way to protect against voter fraud.
"We've always had to. Here in the United States, we're legal citizens and we have to show, no matter what you do, we have to have a license, birth certificate, and social security," said Linda Rainey, Georgia Voter.
And with over 5,000,000 registered voters in the state of Georgia, officials say paying attention to the details prevents any type of fraud, especially with mail-in ballots that don't require any type of photo I.D.
"We don't take anything to chance. If your signature doesn't match what we have on filed, we're not just assuming you've changed your signature. We're going to verify you did actually vote that ballot," said Johnson.
Election officials want to remind people not to forget to bring one of the 6 forms of identification listed on the secretary of state's website, because if you do, your one and only vote won't count.
Early voting runs through November 2nd.
An extra voting day will be held at all precincts on Saturday, October 27th from 9 to 4.
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