(WSB Radio) -- At first, flying over the metro area's polling places election night, it looked like a fluke.

"I haven't seen a single line yet," Reporter WSB's Pete Combs told anchor Jeff Hullinger as Combs flew high above the polls in the WSB Skycopter.

The situation didn't improve.

What happened? After all, early voting turnout was crushing and there were predictions on election day that voters would be in line well into the wee hours.

Doug Bachtel, a UGA political scientist says only 53 percent of Georgia's eligible voters showed up for this election. That's the worst showing since Hayes beat Tilden back in 1876.

"Not only was it low, Bachtel says. "It was abysmal."

Bachtel isn't sure why, but promises. that will be the subject of controversy for years to come.