Election Day is almost here – and the nation will be closely watching the Georgia vote tallies after the polls close, since it’s a swing state in the high-stakes presidential race.
That means that on Election Night, social media will be flooded with speculative polls, predictions, and commentary. For accurate real-time updates, you can track Georgia vote tallies directly from the Secretary of State’s elections website or from your county’s elections website.
County election officials will start providing initial vote counts to the public shortly after polls close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. They caution that it will likely take a few days to certify the vote – since Election Day, early voting, absentee, and provisional ballots all must be verified. County election superintendents have until 5 p.m. on the Monday after the election, or Nov. 11, to submit certified returns for their county to the Secretary of State.
Here’s what voters need to know about tracking real-time results in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton Counties — including links to their election websites – and how to avoid misinformation on social media.
Bypass social media confusion
Sharing accurate, verified information on social media helps to keep people informed without causing unnecessary confusion or panic. To stay up to speed and avoid contributing to misinformation yourself, keep these guidelines in mind:
Verify before sharing. Rely on information from trusted, official sources, like your county elections board or reputable news outlets. If a claim about the election doesn’t cite a reliable source, avoid sharing it.
Beware of unofficial claims about poll closures or fake deadlines. Misleading posts about “poll closures” or “late-breaking deadlines” are common tactics to confuse voters. Polls in Georgia close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5, but anyone in line by then can still vote.
Be aware of partial results. Early results do not determine the final outcome. Retweeting or sharing partial results as “final” or “decisive” spreads a false impression, especially with high volumes of absentee ballots being counted.
Report misinformation. If you spot false information, most social media platforms have reporting options specifically for election misinformation. By reporting misleading posts, you contribute to the integrity of the information others are seeing.
Here is how to get real-time, reliable metro Atlanta vote tallies on Nov. 5. Remember that Georgia’s election results will most likely take longer than a single night to certify.
Fulton County
You can download the Fulton Votes mobile app from Fulton County’s elections website page for live updates. Results will start rolling in after polls close at 7 p.m., but remember that these tallies are unofficial until certified.
“Following the closing of the polls at 7 p.m. on November 5, the Elections team will work to provide accurate and timely updates regarding the reporting of total votes,” Fulton spokesperson Regina Waller said in an email to Atlanta Civic Circle.
Cobb County
At 8 p.m. on Election Night, Cobb County will begin uploading early voting totals and absentee ballots received through Nov. 4. The county will periodically update the results each time ballots from its seven precincts are counted, said Cobb’s elections director, Tate Fall.
Fall encourages voters to get updates directly from Cobb’s elections website, its social media channels, or the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.
Clayton County
Clayton County’s elections webpage will start posting initial results around 8 p.m., an hour after polls close. As with Georgia’s other 158 counties, it will submit certified returns to the Secretary of State’s office on Nov. 11 for official state certification.
DeKalb County
Check DeKalb County’s election results webpage on Election Night for a real-time count. The DeKalb elections office will start tabulating advance voting ballots at 1 p.m. on Election Day, but it has no fixed deadline for publicly reporting results. “We don’t set a time expectation,” said DeKalb elections office spokesperson, Erik Burton.
Gwinnett County
Access real-time results on Gwinnett County’s elections webpage. Gwinnett will start posting early voting numbers, followed by absentee ballot counts, within the first hour after the polls close, said Zach Manifold, the Gwinnett County elections supervisor.
Manifold urged voters to contact their county elections office to answer any questions, instead of relying on information from other sources.