City of Atlanta voters have until 8 p.m. to cast a ballot on Election Day — one hour later than the 7 p.m. cutoff time for polls statewide. However, Atlantans arriving at their poll after 7 p.m. must use a provisional ballot and can’t vote in the two statewide Public Service Commission (PSC) races.
A Fulton County judge ordered the last-minute time extension for the Nov. 4 election at an emergency hearing on Monday afternoon, in response to a lawsuit from the city of Atlanta. The ruling from Fulton Superior Court Judge Melynee Leftfridge affects 67 Fulton polling places and 14 in the sliver of DeKalb County within Atlanta city limits.
Atlanta voters who are in line to vote at 7 p.m. will be able to use a regular ballot and can vote in the PSC elections. Those arriving at their poll after 7 p.m. will be required to use provisional ballots, which will be counted separately.
While polls typically close at 7 p.m. statewide, the city of Atlanta wanted to keep them open until 8 p.m. to give more Atlantans time to vote. For municipal elections, Georgia law allows cities with a population above 300,000 to extend their voting time by an extra hour on Election Day. What created the issue was the state-level PSC elections appearing on Atlanta ballots, along with the citywide races.
In August, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office told Fulton and DeKalb elections officials that their city of Atlanta polls had to close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 4, due to the PSC races. However, the county officials didn’t communicate that to city of Atlanta elections officials until Oct. 31. That’s what prompted the last-minute hearing on Nov. 3.
Leftridge made the ruling orally. She said she’d follow up with a written order once Fulton and DeKalb elections officials submit the updated vote-tallying protocol in writing to her for Atlanta residents arriving at polls after 7 p.m.
The judge also instructed the county elections officials to hold a Zoom meeting with Atlanta poll workers on Monday night to make sure they understood the new protocol.
