Mary Frances Weeks, a spokesperson for the DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections office, said the first day turnout was disappointing.
"We were hoping that more people would have come out," she said. "There are no lines. I repeat, there are no lines. This is the time to beat the crowds."
Advance Voting is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. until July 14. There will be no advance voting on Saturday this year.
The polls open on July 18 at 188 sites across the county from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For the 2006 election, the Elections office doubled the number of advance voting sites from three in 2004 to six this year because voters waited in long lines for hours to vote and complained that more advance locations were needed.
Last week, Election director Linda Latimore encouraged voters to use the new locations, two of which are in south DeKalb County — at the South DeKalb Senior Center, 1931 Candler Road in Decatur, and at Around the Ivy, 2614-A Max Cleland Boulevard in downtown Lithonia. She said it was important for voters to use the satellite sites so that the county wouldn't look silly for spending the extra money to open the sites.
Weeks said Tuesday that the bulk of Monday's advance voting took place at the Elections Office, 4380 Memorial Drive in Decatur, and in Room 207 at the DeKalb County Courthouse, 556 North McDonough Street in downtown Decatur.
She said 317 people cast ballots at the Elections Office and 107 at the courthouse.
"At the other locations, we had 20 to 30 people each," Weeks said.
Among the people voting Monday was first-time voter 21-year-old William Huckaby of Lithonia. He was among 48 voters who got rides to the polls on Monday from Concerned Citizens of DeKalb County, a group of community activists who came together to help people who don't have transportation to get to the polls.
Huckaby, his 19-year-old cousin Jewell Brunch, and 18-year-old Nysha Foster were three first-time voters in the group. Concerned Citizens picked them up at a Circle K gas station on Covington Highway in Lithonia and took them to the downtown Lithonia satellite site to vote. They also gave them card with a slate of candidates that they could pick from.
India Pullin, who was helping coordinate the rides, said they ran three trips on Monday and would continue to do give rides until the close of the polls on July 18. She said they are a group of 14 friends who just want to see all of DeKalb citizens exercise their right to vote.
"We are really concerned with voting," Pullin said. "Lots of people get discouraged with the voting system and really don't know what to do. So, we just help them out."
They are using two 14-passenger buses and will pick up groups of eight or more voters up at churches, community centers and shopping centers.
During the 2002 elections, Pullin said they took around 600 people to the polls and in 2004, transported 800.
Carrie Briscoe, 66, said she is thankful for the Concerned Citizens, who gave her a ride to the poll on Monday. She said health problems have prevented her from driving and that for the first time in decades, she was facing the prospect of not being able to get to the polls.
"I have been a voter all my life and they have helped me continue to do so," Briscoe said.
For a ride to the poll, call Concerned Citizens Ride of DeKalb County, at 678-886-9139 or 404-580-1903.
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