In deep-red Bartow County, many Republicans expressed concerns with 24/7 absentee drop boxes, vote counting and the machines picked by the GOP legislature. In November, One voter even called the police to investigate a polling place for having a mysterious connection to China. It was just a power cord.

While fewer members of the public were there to watch the audit than November’s vote count, those who were there said it was still an important step in becoming an informed voter.

For Republican monitor Judy Kilgore, it helped seeing things with her own eyes, and knowing that some of her friends and neighbors she trusted were the ones doing the counting.

“I can personally hear them, I can walk around the tables, I can observe what they’re doing,” she said.