Fresh Loaf

Thought you fulfilled your duty as a citizen on Nov. 3? Think again! Several local races are still undecided, and from now until Nov. 20 you can vote early to beat the Dec. 1 “crowds” (aka five voters who turn out for runoffs).

Among the contested races:

• Atlanta mayor, between Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed.

• Atlanta City Council president, between Ceasar Mitchell and Clair Muller.

• Atlanta City Council Post 2 At-Large, between Amir Farokhi and Aaron Watson.

• Atlanta City Council District 6, between Liz Coyle and Alex Wan.

• State House District 58, between Simone Bell and Asha Jackson.

• State Senate District 35, between Donzella James and Torrey O Johnson.

From Nov. 23-25, you can participate in Advance Voting. After that, your last chance to vote for the city’s next elected officials is Dec. 1. If you registered prior to Oct. 5, you should be good to go. If you didn’t vote on Nov. 3, you can still come out and cast a ballot for the runoff. Remember to bring a photo ID and thank the kind folks manning the polls.

UPDATE: You can also vote by absentee ballot. Download an application PDF here. Fax the completed application to your County Board of Registrars office. You can find their info here. They’ll mail you a ballot. Fill it out, mail it back, or deliver it to your polling location. Just be sure to do so before polls close on Dec. 1.

After the jump, we present a Fulton and DeKalb County poll location list that we’ve shamefully pulled from the City of Atlanta’s “Election Central” portal.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Take note, ballot casters! Today’s the last day to register if you want to vote for Atlanta’s next mayor and councilmembers on Nov. 3.

We ran through a list of links and how-to’s last week, so you can jump back to that post for info. But here they are again if you want to save a click.

Check to see if you’re already registered to vote. If not, here’s how you can get registered. Look here to see how you can vote via absentee ballot. To view Early and Advance Voting dates and locations, check out our previous post. This FAQ can answer a lot of questions about the upcoming municipal elections. Your county elections office can answer more specific questions or help you out with specific problems. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has a convenient one-stop resource to handle general registration and election concerns.

Many municipal races will end up in a runoff, which traditionally have low voter turnout. That means your vote could make or break your favored candidates’ hopes for actually winning office. Now go forth and get registered!

(File photo by Joeff Davis)

Bookmark It

The political process sure has a helluva way of sneaking up on ya, don’t it?

If you want to help decide Atlanta’s next mayor and city councilmembers, you have to get legit with the state before Oct. 5. That’s… seven days away.

Don’t know whether you’re registered to vote? This handy tool courtesy of the Georgia Secretary of State can tell you. If you’re not registered to vote, here’s the info about what you gotta do if you want to cast a ballot. If you have any specific questions, it’s best to contact your county elections office. (The Secretary of State has an easy-to-use one-stop resource that can provide you with most registration and election information. Here’s a list of frequently asked questions about the upcoming Atlanta elections.)

You’ll have the option of voting before Nov. 3. Registered voters can cast ballots Oct. 12-23 during Early Voting. Advance voting will be held Oct. 26-30. We really don’t understand the difference between the two, only that there are additional polling locations. We gleefully copied a chart from the city’s elections website that lists dates and locations and pasted it after the jump.

If you want to vote via absentee ballot, you can download an application from the Secretary of State’s website and a ballot will be mailed to you.

Remember to bring one of these valid forms of ID to the polls. And grab a doughnut or some coffee if they’re available. We’ll have more details as voting time approaches. But in the meantime, get registered.

(more…)

Bookmark It

UPDATE: Bah, semantics! Received word that I garbled some of the terminology on the post. It’s been corrected.

Were you one of the 2 million Georgians who enjoyed his or her early voting experience? The long lines, the new friends, the chance you may have ended up as a “missed connection” on Craigs List?

Good news! Absentee and early voting will be available for the Dec. 2 runoff.

After Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel certifies election results next week, state election maestros and county election officials will start coordinating the runoff.

Matt Carrothers, Handel’s spokesman, told me these details over the phone a few minutes ago:

Early voting is anticipated to begin Nov. 17. According to Handel’s office:

Counties can begin early voting. While it is a county-by-county decision, there should be consistency state-wide.

Advance voting will be held Monday through Wednesday (Nov. 24-26) during the week of Thanksgiving. County election offices are closed Thursday and Friday because of the holiday.

If you voted by mail-in or absentee ballot in the General Election, you’ll have to re-request a ballot. You can download an application at the Secretary of State’s website or pick one up at your county election office. (Or just click here.) To find your county election office, click here. Applications can either be dropped off, mailed, or faxed as well.

Bookmark It

Georgia Democrats are calling for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel to extend advanced voting on Saturday and Sunday after computer glitches caused a reported 500 people to wait two hours in line at a Fulton County polling place.

State Rep.-elect Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, says poll workers at the Adamsville Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta told him voter check-in machines couldn’t access the Secretary of State’s system shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday night. When he arrived at the rec center to assist poll workers, Taylor — who was joined by Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders, Councilmember C.T. Martin and City Council Clerk Rhonda Johnson — says he saw an estimated 500 people still waiting to cast ballots.

“A few days ago, there was a problem connecting to the system,” the representative-elect says. “This time, there was a problem with the system.”

(more…)

Bookmark It

Which soft-spoken U.S. Senate candidate — who also served in the Georgia General Assembly — was spotted waiting in queue in Fulton County at 11:20 a.m. to cast his early ballot? We’re not naming any names, but trusted sources say this modern-day Atticus Finch doesn’t just want to kick the incumbent out of office — he also plans to honor his citizen’s duty so he can continue his hard-fought campaign.

Which leads us to wonder: What better time for the incumbent Republican — who we’ll just call Sugar Daddy — to launch a sneak attack against this challenger than when he’s standing two hours in the cold, like a noble soldier, slogging on the slow march toward freedom and a brighter life for all Americans? See him stand there, like a beacon of justice, like a — wait, what the hell am I writing? Jim Martin was seen standing in line to vote early with Joan, his wife, just now in Fulton County.

My inimitable colleague Scott Henry just returned from Fulton County’s early voting location and spotted Martin there. He says the line was two hours long.

Bookmark It