A Fulton County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the City of Atlanta on Monday after it challenged a directive to close polling places at 7 p.m. For the Nov. 3 municipal election, polls in the city will remain open until 8 p.m.
Judge Melynee Leftridge sided with the city after it filed a lawsuit against Fulton and DeKalb counties challenging the requirement that polls had to close at 7 p.m. State law allows municipalities with more than 300,000 residents to stay open an extra hour.
“We will not let anyone reduce access to voting in elections. Not this year, next year nor 2028,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement after the ruling.
Votes cast during the extra hour will be treated as provisional ballots and voters will not be able to vote in the PSC race during the 7 to 8 p.m. hour.
“I am very happy that the Superior Court Judge followed the existing law and granted our motion to keep the additional hour, to which the voters of the City of Atlanta are entitled,” City Attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker said in a statement.