Net Results

CQ Politics' Rachel Kapochunas reports....

Primary voters in Georgia Tuesday experienced waits at the polls of up to two-and-a-half hours and unsually long lines. But whether this was because of unprecedented turnout -- or a bottleneck created by a state law requiring voters to display valid photo identification -- is in dispute.

Georgia Election Protection spokeswoman Clare Schexnyder said that 30 to 40 percent of the calls received by her organization Tuesday were from voters frustrated by long lines at the polls. Schexnyder said that her reports suggest there was an insufficient number of express computerized machines to check voters in and provide them with voting cards. Schexnyder said that many poll workers are checking voter ID information on computers for the first time in this election.

"It doesn't bode very well for a general election," Schexnyder said. "This is a lesson learned."

The organization had not received any calls specifically regarding photo identification issues as of 5 p.m.

But People for the American Way's Democracy Campaign Director David Becker said that the day's long lines are directly related to the state's voter ID requirement, which Becker categorized as "restrictive."

Becker argued that bottlenecks are being created when voters are forced to "go through their wallets and find one of these very few forms of ID," in addition to a shortage of check-in machines. Voters must present a government-issued photo ID or obtain a free Voter ID card from their county registrar or the state Department of Driver Services.

Becker's group contends that the photo requirement is unnecessary and creates "barriers" for voters who don't have the specific identification required.

Becker's group was satisfied with the state's ID law before it was changed in 2005 to require photo identification. Many opposed the change, including civil rights groups who believed it could disenfranchise lower-income black voters who are among the least likely state residents to have photo ID.

But supporters say the law helps to further secure the state's elections process and limit fraudulent voting.

The office of Georgia' s Secretary of State, Karen Handel, said Tuesday that as of 5:30 p.m., not a single report had been received regarding problems related to the photo identification requirement. The office attributed the long lines to high voter turnout.

Attributing long lines to problems associated with photo ID check-in "could not be further from the truth," said Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Handel.

"Lines are not indicative of problems at the polling place," Carrothers said. "Lines are indicative of heightened interest in both parties' nomination contests."

Handel estimated turnout as high as 40 percent in the state.