Serious problems with the Georgia primary election could have easily been avoided. 

The blame game going on in metro Atlanta between the Secretary of State and local election officials is just noise. 

If polls workers were inadequately trained on new election equipment, everyone is to blame.

It is the responsibility of both the local elections offices and the Secretary of State to make sure all poll workers and staff have the necessary training. 

If there were not enough poll workers because of COVID-19 and fears of infection, that is not really anyone’s fault but it is certainly something that should have been known far in advance and compensated for with advance planning. 

Everyone knew social distancing would be an issue so it would have made sense to both extend voting hours and seek out larger spaces to house the polling precincts.

These are all common-sense measures that could have made a significant difference. 

However, the most simple and easiest solution of all is mail-in and/or drop-off voting. 

We have said previously that we think Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made the right call by moving the primary date to June 9.

We also think he made the right call by sending all registered voters an application to vote by mail. 

While many people took advantage of the opportunity, most did not. 

It was an easy and safe process. 

You returned the the simple application by mail. Later, you received a paper ballot, and then you could either return it by mail or drop it off at the elections office. 

It is a process that makes good sense. 

There is absolutely no evidence that voting by a mailed paper ballot increases voter fraud in anyway. The narrative that it does is just a myth. 

Election officials selected the new, very expensive, touch-screen voting machines in part because the machine generates a paper trail. 

Federal elections officials and activists calling for more secure elections throughout the nation have long said the best way to safeguard our elections is by creating a verifiable paper trial. 

That is exactly what the vote by mail process does. 

The other thing it does really well is bypass long lines on Election Day. 

The expansion of early voting and promoting mail-in and drop-off balloting will go a long way toward eliminating Election Day debacles in Georgia. 

We urge metro Atlanta election officials and the Secretary of State’s Office to just stop the blame game and use some common sense.