The election website of Georgia's most populated county warned of a “unexpected IT outage” Tuesday, sparking social media concerns over the presidential primary. Election officials immediately dispelled those concerns. A January hack in Fulton County, which covers Atlanta, suspended government services. A red banner on county webpages warned of a “System Outage”. It did not imply voting issues on Tuesday, officials added.
“Today has gone relatively uneventful, smooth,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters in the afternoon. Some X (previously Twitter) users wondered if the warning message was a “glitch” or primary election “cheating.” Others worried if it suggested election issues.
Even before primary voting ended, county websites featured banners warning of a “unexpected IT outage currently affecting multiple systems.” It referred users to a March 4 update on the incident and the county's service restoration.
After social media outcry, Fulton County removed the warning banner from its website, including the elections page. The remaining one instructed voters to find their voting location or verify wait times.
Although the advisory had been in place since the end of January, we realized today that it was causing voter confusion,” Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt said in an email. Fulton County will always work to prevent and correct misinformation and provide accurate and timely information to voters.
Georgia election authorities, particularly in Fulton County, are sensitive to issues about voting fairness and process. It was one of the places where former President Donald Trump challenged his 2020 loss to Joe Biden and faces criminal charges for trying to overturn the results. Some Fulton County election workers have been threatened with death over conspiracy ideas.
Fulton County informed that voting systems were not targeted in the incident, but that the secretary of state's technology systems were isolated as a precaution. Corbitt said Tuesday that the malware probe “is ongoing” and that she could not comment on compromised data.
Other than the warning banner's uncertainty, the Georgia Secretary of State's office reported little glitches throughout Tuesday's voting. Due to late openings, two precincts will be open into closing time, according to COO Gabriel Sterling. In Cobb County, poll workers lacked the key pad code, and in Gwinnett County, a poll manager was fixing a printer.
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