Nov. 3 was an extraordinary Election Day in an extraordinary year, bringing the Trump vs. Biden battle to local communities in the midst of a pandemic.
From left, mask-clad poll workers Shellie Stark, Courtney Chatman and Sheila Settles display the “I Voted” stickers at the Dunwoody Library on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody. (Phil Mosier)
In what has become a new normal, poll workers donned masks and face shields.
The Buckhead Theatre on Roswell Road in Buckhead may have been Georgia’s only polling place where voters cast their ballots beneath a disco ball. (Phil Mosier)
COVID-19 wrought more changes and experiments, too. The Buckhead Theatre, a music venue whose shows are on hold due to the crisis, served as a polling place — possibly the only one in Georgia with a disco ball.
The Gephardt family of Sandy Springs — from left, Matt; Truman, 14; and Tricia — tout their support for Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates outside the Sandy Springs Library on Mount Vernon Highway in Sandy Springs. Matt co-owns the Village Burger restaurants, which has a Dunwoody location. He is also the son of former Missouri congressman and occasional presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. (Phil Mosier)
Then again, some things never change. Civic-minded residents still volunteered as poll workers, and politically active residents still waved signs and flags outside the polls, hoping to sway that one undecided voter.
Social distancing was not a problem with light afternoon voting at the polling place at Cross Keys High School on North Druid Hills Road in Brookhaven. (Phil Mosier)
Despite intense interest in an election that has made Georgia a presidential battleground state, and after a crush of absentee and early voting, in-person voting on Election Day was steady and light at many local polls.
Poll workers welcome voters inside the Buckhead Theatre. (Phil Mosier)
Precinct manager Robert Wittenstein, clad in a mask and face shield, talks with poll worker Courtney Ce at the Dunwoody Library voting location. A former Dunwoody City Council member and former Dunwoody Homeowners Association president, Wittenstein also now chairs the Dunwoody Charter Commission. (Phil Mosier)
However, the Atlanta Police Department and some business owners had concern about possible post-election rioting in Buckhead, where Lenox Square mall and some other buildings were preemptively boarded up.
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John Ruch
John Ruch is an Atlanta-based journalist. Previously, he was Managing Editor of Reporter Newspapers.
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