"Poll workers are trained and we're ready to go," says Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in the closely watched US swing state of Georgia, as poll workers process absentee ballots inside the county's Elections Hub & Operation Center one day before Election Day. Last month, a judge blocked a new rule that would have required election workers to hand-count ballots, as the state posted record turnout on the first day of early voting. The ruling came after a Republican appointee to the election board in Fulton County, which includes large parts of Atlanta, refused earlier this year to certify the results of Georgia's presidential primary. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES