I don’t know what Atlanta’s problem is.

I was voter No. 18,177 in Athens – almost a third of registered voters came before me. I didn’t wait but 15 minutes at lunchtime at the Classic Center. Voters in metro Atlanta are waiting two or three hours.

Waits were up to an hour and 45 minutes in Athens yesterday due to computer problems, poll workers said, but the short line moved quickly today.

Tit for TAD

The issues I had the most trouble with, like a lot of people, were the three constitutional amendments on the ballot.

I just read this New York Times blog and thought it was actually relevant to Georgia, since we can now get an absentee ballot without an excuse and vote now.

So what to you guys think about voting a month before the campaigns are really over? Especially when we still have two debates (Tuesday and Oct. 15) to go. And what about the October surprise? Any ideas of what it might be? The way this race has been going, I bet it'll be a doozy.

Like any number of other newspapers, the Banner-Herald routinely uses some of the space on its Election Day editorial pages to urge folks to get out and vote. Beyond that, we'll sometimes use the editorial page to remind people of upcoming deadlines for registering to vote to be eligible to cast a ballot in the next election.

We didn't do any of that for today's primary election, and we may well think twice aobut doing it ever again. Here's why: If we're sending people to the polls who only know it's an election day, or that it's time to register to vote, because they happen to read something in the newspaper, are we really performing any kind of public service?

My impression is that we may, in fact, be doing a public disservice, in likely sending people to the polls who are, by no stretch of the imagination, prepared to cast an informed ballot.

Or, Why Reporters Who Don’t Vote Ought to Move to Communist China.

A friend alerted me recently to a blog post by Macon Telegraph reporter Travis Fain on why he doesn’t vote, and thought I’d be interested in taking a crack at it.

My pleasure.

I’ve voted just about every single primary and general election since I turned 18. I’ve voted for Republicans and Democrats, even a fringe-party candidate or two. I’ve voted for and against the people I cover. You can try to guess which is which, but I promise you’d be wrong.