Early voting for the Nov. 4 municipal elections ends on Oct. 31. Don’t get spooked — go vote.
Pro tip: If you still need a Halloween costume for Friday night, just dress up as a voter. Atlantans have until 6 p.m. on Friday to get themselves an “I voted” sticker to complete the look (7 p.m. for Atlantans in DeKalb County). While there’s no rule against voting in a costume, you’ll need a photo ID, and your face does need to be recognizably you. You also cannot wear any campaign gear.
Jokes aside, these elections matter. Voters statewide are choosing two members of the Public Service Commission, which sets the rates for Georgia Power. Even so, only 4.4% of voters, or 318,000 statewide have cast a ballot so far. What’s more, three out of four Georgia voters so far are over age 50.
City of Atlanta voters are electing all 15 members of the Atlanta City Council, a city council president, and a mayor, as well as four Board of Education members. Atlanta and Fulton County voters are also voting on referendums that would give seniors additional property tax breaks. Here’s our helpful explainer.
To see who’s on your Atlanta ballot and how they responded to our candidate questionnaire, check out the “build your ballot” function at Atlanta Civic Circle’s 2025 Elections Hub. And here are our endorsement tracker and campaign finance roundups for Atlanta voters.
The latest Atlanta endorsement comes from Ruby Velle & The Soulphonics for Rohit Malhotra, who’s running for city council president. It accompanied the release of a single, “Step Right Up,” that the band is dedicating to his campaign.
As a reminder: You can vote through Friday at any early voting location in the county where you’re registered to vote. On Election Day, however, you must vote at your assigned polling place. Consult the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page to find your polling place.
🔎 Spotlight on local races
If you live in northwest Atlanta’s city council District 9, check out our recent profile on the race between incumbent Dustin Hillis and his challenger Charles Bourgeois.
In west Atlanta’s city council District 3, Perrin Bostic is mounting another rare challenge to the incumbent, Byron Amos.
Read more: In a tight District 3 race, Perrin Bostic leans into good governance to challenge Byron Amos
Want more insight into the hotly contested race for Atlanta City Council president between Rohit Malhotra and Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet? Here’s our coverage of their Atlanta Press Club debate and their responses to federal funding threats to city programs for people with HIV/AIDS.
FYI: Three city council candidates have been disqualified: Rod Mack in District 2, Keith Lewis and Sherry Williams in District 11.
Outside Atlanta, we took a look at the Marietta mayor’s race, where 24-year-old Sam Foster hopes to make history in a bid to unseat four-term incumbent Steve “Thunder” Tumlin.
ICYMI: Upstart mayoral challenger tests Marietta’s old guard
🎥 ACC’s Saba Long moderated a forum last night featuring City Council District 2, Post 1 At-Large, City Council president, and Atlanta Board of Education Seat 8 At-Large candidates. The event was hosted by the Poised PEACHES and community partners including the ACLU of Georgia and the Leauge of Women Voters of Atlanta-Fulton County. Watch the WANF livestream.
📚 Atlanta School Board candidates answer our questions
For the Atlanta Board of Education District 2, 4, 6, and 8 At-Large elections, we asked candidates whether — and how — Atlanta Public Schools (APS) could use the land it owns to make housing more affordable for APS families. Check out our 2025 Elections Hub for their full responses to our candidate questionnaire on overseeing the APS budget, addressing student homelessness, and more.
💡 Pro tip: APS receives more property tax dollars than the city of Atlanta, so these are too important to ignore.
How would city council candidates stand up to Trump?
We also sent a candidate questionnaire to Atlanta City Council hopefuls. Here’s what candidates in contested races had to say about protecting the city’s residents, finances and local authority from federal overreach. Check out our 2025 Elections Hub for their full responses to all our questions.
Read more: How would Atlanta City Council candidates stand up to federal overreach?
🎶 Last chance to meet Atlanta candidates: Karaoke
If you’ve missed all the candidate forums, you can still drop by candidate karaoke tomorrow evening at Underground Atlanta. We’re not saying you should vote based on who can nail the falsetto in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but we’re not saying it doesn’t matter either.
- Oct. 29, 7-9 PM: Karaoke with Candidates, hosted by Propel ATL. Open to all candidates! Underground Atlanta, 50 Lower Alabama Street
Today’s Democracy Digest newsletter was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon. It was edited by Meredith Hobbs. As always, thank you for reading. Have tips, corrections, or questions? Just reply to this email.