Voting machines in Georgia Republican county all down for hours due to 'system glitch'

In the vital battleground state of Georgia, a historically Republican county's voting machines were all down for several hours on the morning of Election Day due to a “system glitch.”

The Spalding County Sheriff's Office confirmed the technical difficulties, which occurred shortly after voting began.

According to a report by WSB-TV Atlanta, the Secretary of State’s Office called the malfunction a cause of human error after workers in Spalding County reportedly loaded information incorrectly onto the poll pads Tuesday morning.

CBS46 News reporter Iyani Lenice tweeted an update, noting that the county-wide shutdown was due to a “system glitch.” Election officials report that “provisional ballots" are being sent to all 18 precincts to allow voters to cast paper ballots.

Lenice's colleague and morning anchor Rob Hughes then cited a partial restoration as the news outlet worked to confirm which locations are repaired.

Hughes posted a video of voters lined up outside the First Presbyterian Church in Griffin. “Machines working here, but I visited one other nearby polling location where all machines are still down and the only option is a provisional ballot. The line here is a tiny fraction of what it was earlier,” he tweeted.

The county's Facebook page stated before noon: "All polling stations in each precinct are now up and running as they should be."

The county voted red in the last five presidential elections. In 2016, Spalding County supported President Donald Trump by a whopping 60.3 percent compared to Sec. Hillary Clinton’s 36 percent.