The Polk County Board of Elections had troubles along with the rest of the area with connectivity issues in getting voters before their touchscreen ballots, but officials were able to overcome the problem and ultimately saw more votes cast following a delay due to a wireless outage.

Elections coordinator Brande Coggins reported that because of cell service going down on Monday, Rockmart’s precinct had some trouble getting their systems to work via air cards and had to send people to vote at the Board of Elections office instead. She said it was later in the afternoon when the problem was resolved, and the precinct was back open.

Now, a paper backup list is available to elections officials at the Rockmart precinct in case computer systems go down again and prevent officials from being able to check voter rolls. The voting machines themselves can operate without wireless connectivity.

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Overall, the total number of ballots cast on Monday totaled up to 583 between the Cedartown and Rockmart precinct bringing the total of early voters in-person to 5,116. Out of the 3,805 mail-in ballots that have been requested, some 2,020 have been returned.

All told with in-person and mail-in ballots counted, some 7,136 people have voted. With 25,480 registered voters in Polk County, that accounts for just a bit over 28% of the vote is so far in.

Polk County voters can continue going to the polls through the rest of the week in Cedartown or Rockmart from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Saturday voting coming up this weekend at both precincts as well.

The pair of precincts for Early Voting are located at 605 Goodyear Ave., Rockmart at the Nathan Dean Community Center, or at the Board of Elections office at the County Administration Building at 144 West Ave., Cedartown.

both the Cedartown and Rockmart precincts will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 24, and extended hours until 7 p.m. will be available on Tuesday and Thursday, October 27 and October 29, during the final week of early voting. For those planning to early vote, be sure to have your driver’s license with you as proof of identification, or another form of Photo ID approved by the state, like a U.S. Passport.

The final week of early voting’s other three days will hold a regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. October 30 closes out early voting ahead of the November 3 election completely.

Social distancing guidelines are in place to keep people from bunching up together, and touchscreens are being cleaned by elections personnel between uses.

Absentee ballots can be requested from the Board of Elections office. Call 770-749-2103 for more information. People can track their ballot at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov or call the Board of Elections to request an update.

Anyone who requests a ballot and decides they want to vote in person can surrender the ballot, and cast their vote early or at their precinct on November 3, but they should be aware than an additional process is involved with that option.

Note that trying to cast an absentee ballot by mailing it in before the deadline, then voting in person is illegal and is punishable by a felony charge that carries stiff penalties.

All absentee ballots must be returned before 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3 to be counted.