Light turnout on Election Day in metro Atlanta

In addition to municipal races to pick mayors, city council and school board members, this year’s election will also determine who serves on the Georgia Public Service Commission, the first time PSC seats have been on the ballot since 2020.

Here are some of the key races on the ballot across the region:

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Polls are open until 7 p.m. and anyone in line at that point can cast a ballot. In Atlanta, polls will be open until 8 p.m. A court ruling Monday extended the time city residents can cast ballots by one hour but voters who arrive after 7 p.m. can’t vote in the Public Service Commission race and must use a provisional ballot.

There was light traffic at the Joan P. Garner Library at Ponce de Leon early Tuesday morning. But Rodney Gibbs was among those who had come out to vote in the municipal election, motivated by issues such as investment in MARTA, the Beltline and the rising cost of living, including the crushing price of housing.

Credit: Matt Reynolds

Credit: Matt Reynolds

He voted for Rohit Malhotra for City Council president and hoped Malhotra would push Mayor Andre Dickens to invest more in Beltline transit and affordable housing.

“Dickens vacillated on transit, on the Beltline and then Cop City. His stance on that was very disappointing to me,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs said he had also voted for Kelsea Bond for Atlanta City Council District 2 because of their stance on cost of living and housing.

“I have a general concern about the cost of living here for people who can’t afford it,” he said. “I think it’s becoming harder to live in the city.”

Alexandra Castilla and Keith Sinclair live in the Old Fourth Ward. Sinclair said he hoped that a vote for Malhotra would put someone in the City Council president’s chair who would hold the mayor accountable and ensure he did not “have yes men around him.”

Credit: Matt Reynolds

Credit: Matt Reynolds

They said they couldn’t cast their vote at the library and that officials had told them they would need to vote at the polling location on Howell Mill Road.

Sinclair said he would probably vote for Meredith for mayor, while Castilla said she wanted to see improvements in the city’s infrastructure, including repairs to potholes that she said had damaged their cars.

“I think affordable housing is also important, and making sure that with the progress that’s been made with bringing IT and tech into the city, that we continue to foster affordable living, so that people are able to come and live here and prosper in the city,” Castilla said.

Attorney Janet Serafin said she voted for Atlanta City Council District 2 candidate Courtney Smith, citing Smith’s practical experience tackling homelessness, which she said had worsened in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Serafin added she had cast a vote for Dickens, mostly because of a lack of viable alternatives.

“I think he’s done an OK job. He’s not my favorite politician. But he wants to do the right things. Whether he’s being effective in doing those things is maybe a question,” she said.

A slow but steady trickle of voters made their way to the polling site inside Park Tavern, the restaurant at the southernmost tip of Piedmont Park on Tuesday morning. Most people walked or rode their bike to the site.

Jacki Guerra said she was most eager to cast a ballot in the election for Public Service Commission.

“The power bills are killing us,” she said. “We really need someone to get in there and say no to the utility companies. That’s number one.”

Credit: Lautaro Grinspan

Credit: Lautaro Grinspan

Guerra added that she mostly approved of Mayor Dickens’ first term.

“I feel like he’s doing his best. It’s a tough job,” she said. “I see a lot of action as far as work on the streets and the roads and that’s a really good thing because our infrastructure is crumbling. But there’s always room for improvement.”

David Tatum wore an “Immigrants Make America Great” hat to the polls. He also said he viewed Dickens favorably, especially relative to his predecessors.

“Our last few mayors have been really grimy and not great,” he said. In his view, a second Dickens administration would be able to get more things done if there were more liberal voices in city government. Tatum said he was excited to vote for Kelsea Bond for city council, whom he described as representing a similar progressive energy as New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

“Have you seen Mamdani? It’s like (they’re) wanting to be more liberal and socialized in (their) policies, and I like that,” Tatum said.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

A Grady Memorial Hospital employee, Tatum said he regularly comes across housing and food insecure people. He likes Bond’s focus on making the city more affordable.

Buckhead Library was busy, but there were no lines to vote. Around mid-morning, Milton Farris, a fifth-generation Atlantan, declined to say whom he had voted for but was critical of Dickens, arguing that while the mayor had made the city attractive to developers, he hadn’t properly addressed housing affordability.

“I’m in real estate... Now, the cost of housing is starting to come down a little bit. But people making $150,000 a year are almost priced out of the market. You have to be outside the perimeter somewhere. It’s just gotten so expensive,” he said.

Like other voters, the rising cost of health care and the state of the city’s infrastructure were also on his mind.

“You pay all this money to the city of Atlanta for infrastructure, and I’m paying more money to get my car fixed from hitting potholes. So it kind of makes you wonder, where’s the money going?” Farris said.

Check your polling site online.

— Matt Reynolds, Lautaro Grinspan, Phoebe Quinton and Eric Stirgus contributed to this report.