During the 2018 election, some voters in metro Atlanta precincts waited more than three hours to cast their votes in the race for governor between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams. The lines, caused by heavier-than-expected turnout and an inadequate number of voting machines, contributed to an ongoing federal lawsuit over obstacles to voting in Georgia.

This year, Raffensperger said county election officials should prepare for even higher turnout, likely exceeding 5 million voters casting ballots on unfamiliar voting machines.

Voters will make their choices on touchscreens, which are connected to printers that create paper ballots. Then voters will take an extra step that didn't exist with the state's old electronic voting machines: They'll be asked to review their ballots for accuracy before inserting them into optical scanning machines for tabulation.

Voters confronted the State Election Board in opposition to the proposal that could have limited the number of Election Day voting machines in counties with many early voting locations.

The board declined to vote on that proposal. In populous areas such as Fulton County, just one machine would have been required in some precincts on Election Day.

“This rule gives permission for counties to create long lines by withholding equipment for some or all precincts,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn, told the board.

Voters advocating for paper ballots filled out by hand told the board to abandon the state’s new electronic voting equipment.

“Will some voters find more machines and shorter lines, while others find fewer machines and longer lines?” asked Dana Bowers, a voter who organized a petition for hand-marked paper ballots in 2018.

The board’s new plan would require county election officials to account for early voters when deciding how many voting machines are needed on Election Day. One voting machine would be available for every 250 registered voters who didn’t participate in early voting. About half of Georgia voters cast their ballots early.

Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group suing the state, said state election officials should provide the number of voting machines required by state law.

“The secretary of state cannot violate or misinterpret this law and provide fewer machines,” said Seth Bringman, a spokesman for Fair Fight Action. “His excuses, delays and fairy tales need to end.”

The board also proposed several other election rules that will be available for public comment for the next 30 days before receiving final votes: