Computer problems slowed voting to a crawl at some polling locations around metro Atlanta on Monday.

It was the first day that counties opened more early voting locations with the idea of easing the crush on Election Day. At the Northeast/Spruill Oaks Regional Library in Alpharetta, some people waited eight hours to cast their ballots.

Wait times of four to six hours were not uncommon Monday. In some places, the lines clipped along at 45 minutes to three hours.

Elections officials in Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Cobb counties said the state’s computer system crashed at times and was very slow, bogging down the process.

The computer system allows poll workers to verify whether voters are properly registered and whether they have already voted.

High voter turnout was one of the reasons for the slowdown, said Matt Carrothers, a spokesman for Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office. Handel said her office was aware of some “sluggishness” in the system and that technicians from the Georgia Technology Authority immediately went to work on it.
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