It’s Election Day!
If you haven’t voted yet, today is your last chance to cast a ballot in your local municipal election and the statewide Public Service Commission (PSC) races. Voters across metro Atlanta will be deciding on their local mayors, city council, and school board members for the next four years.
Voting is better when everyone’s in the know. Forward this to a friend or neighbor and help spread the word.
Polls are open statewide today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the PSC election. Check the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page to verify your registration and polling place.
NOTE: City of Atlanta voters have until 8 p.m today to vote in municipal races. A Fulton judge ruled Monday that Atlanta polls can stay open until 8 p.m. — but voters in line after 7 p.m. must use a provisional ballot and they can’t vote in the statewide PSC election. Read our story here.
Remember to bring your photo ID to vote – and don’t wear any campaign paraphernalia to the polls. Also keep in mind that campaign activities are not allowed within 25 feet of any polling place.
Atlanta Civic Circle will be live-blogging today to bring you voter voices from across Atlanta and key race updates after the polls close. We’re also hosting an Election Night Watch Party at Manuel’s Tavern that kicks off at 6:30 p.m.
👉 Follow our Election Day liveblog here
Tomorrow, I’ll be joining a panel of local journalists for Rose Scott’s “Closer Look” program at noon on WABE for some *post-election analysis.
🔁 Okay, maybe not quite post-election. Even after polls close tonight, Atlanta’s election season won’t be over. Georgia requires candidates to win a majority (50% + 1) of the vote to avoid a runoff. Some races have three or more contenders, making it harder to hit the threshold.
✌️The top two finishers will face off again on Tuesday, Dec. 2. We’ll share updates and early voting details as soon as they’re announced—so stay tuned and make sure you’re ready if your district heads to a runoff.
ACC election watch party: Turnout for What!?
Join Atlanta Civic Circle, Capital B Atlanta, and media influencer King Williams to watch the local returns tonight at Manuel’s Tavern, located at 602 North Highland Ave. NE.
We’ll have free snacks and good conversation. I’ll be there later in the evening wrapping up the liveblog, and I accept drinks as thanks. Attendance is free, but register here to reserve a spot.
What’s on your ballot?
⚡️Voters statewide are electing two members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), which sets the rates for your utility bills. Republican incumbents Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson are facing Democratic challengers Alicia Johnson and Peter Hubbard, respectively. Check out our PSC Election Guide to find out what’s at stake.
📚 Atlanta voters will also be electing a mayor, city council president, all 15 city council members and four members for the Atlanta Board of Education.
Atlanta residents can use Atlanta Civic Circle’s Build Your Ballot tool to see what’s on your ballot and assess the city council and school board candidates’ responses to our questionnaire. We asked them about key issues for the city, such as housing affordability, federal overreach and participatory budgeting.
🧑⚖️ Keep scrolling for information about the municipal judges on your Atlanta ballot.
✅ If endorsements help you decide your vote, we’ve been tracking those too, and keeping an eye on the campaign finance dynamics at play.
🏡 If you live in Atlanta or Fulton County, you’ll also be voting on a proposed new property tax break for seniors, which you can find out about here.
Is culture infrastructure? Atlanta City Council candidates answer our questions about arts funding
Atlanta’s arts and culture are the backbone of the city’s identity, a driver for tourism, and an international influence on fashion, music, dance, film, and more. But our city’s arts organizations are underfunded compared to other big American cities.
Atlanta Civic Circle partnered with Arts Capital Atlanta––a coalition pushing for greater arts investment––to ask Atlanta City Council candidates where they stand on funding the arts and whether the city treats culture as infrastructure or just a nice-to-have.
🎭 This chart summarizes each candidates’ take.
A note on voting for — or against — Atlanta judges
Atlanta voters will be deciding whether to retain nine municipal judges for another four-year term. What does that mean? City of Atlanta judges are appointed by the mayor, not elected by voters, but every four years voters decide whether to keep or remove any judge who’s served at least one year.
Basically, you can’t elect a city judge, but you can vote against a judge you don’t like. If over half the voters reject a judge, the mayor must appoint a different one.
Here are the nine Atlanta judges on the Nov. 4 ballot and the year that an Atlanta mayor appointed them. Note that Judge Allyson Pitts is not on the ballot for retention because she hadn’t served an entire year as of Nov. 4.
- Chief Judge Christopher Ward (2012)
- Judge Gary Jackson (2005)
- Judge Crystal Gaines (2005)
- Judge Terrinee Gundy (2013)
- Judge JaDawnya Baker (2015)
- Judge Christopher Portis (2015)
- Judge Ardra Bey (2016)
- Judge Teresa Mann (2021)
- Judge Pierce Hand Seitz (2024)
In low turnout elections, every vote counts
Turnout for local elections tends to be low, especially in an odd election year, when there are no congressional or presidential candidates on the ballot. In Atlanta, no more than one-third of voters have turned out for municipal elections in the past forty years.
But low turnout means the power of your vote is that much greater. Some Atlanta elections have been decided by razor-thin margins: Just ask District 3 Councilmember Byron Amos, who won by just 47 votes in 2021. This year, Amos is facing a challenge from Perrin Bostic, which you can read about here.
About 25% of Atlantans voted in the last citywide election in 2021, casting 96,158 ballots — but in a good sign for turnout this year, the city of Atlanta’s early vote totals have increased, according to Civic Forge Solutions.
Heading into Election Day, 46,301 Atlantans have already cast ballots, which is 16.6% higher turnout for early voting than four years ago, when 39,699 Atlantans cast ballots.
Right now, statewide early voting turnout stands at just under 9% — with nearly 640,000 Georgians voting out of 7.2 million active voters. In the five-county metro area, Fulton County leads the pack with 14.8% turnout, followed by DeKalb County with 11.9%. Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett Counties are just below the state average, with about 8% turnout so far.
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.