The last day for Georgia residents to register to vote or update their address for the November general election is Oct. 5 . Voters must be registered by the deadline to cast a midterm ballot.
Metro Atlantans in DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties won’t have matching ballots, with differences ranging from county commission seats to U.S. House races.
Election Day rules, registration, and early voting dates are the same in all three counties because state law sets them. The differences are how many early voting sites each county runs, where the drop boxes are, and what’s on the ballot.
Voting in Georgia
Georgians will vote in races for virtually all significant offices in the state, including governor, attorney general, lieutenant governor, one Senate seat, and all members of the House.
Statewide, early voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 13 and continues through Friday, Oct. 30. The state requires advance voting on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Oct. 24, and counties may also offer Sunday voting.
During early voting, you can vote at any early-voting location in the county where you’re registered. The absentee-by-mail application deadline, Oct. 23, is also the same everywhere. The ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3, Election Day, not just postmarked.
Because state code requires general municipal elections to be on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year, the only local races are at the county level.
To check your registration status, polling information, and view a sample ballot, visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page. The site also has links to all of Georgia’s officials elected statewide and congressional district maps
DeKalb County
DeKalb County is holding early voting on Sunday, Oct. 18, and Oct. 25, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday voting on Oct. 17 and 24 is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
DeKalb is expanding from 20 to 22 early or advance voting locations after a focus on voter access this summer. The two new locations, Living Grace Lutheran Church in Tucker and the Wade Walker Park Family YMCA, are only open Oct. 26-30, Monday through Friday.
The six locations with drop boxes are Berean Christian Church in Stone Mountain, Beulah Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, the DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections Office, the Dunwoody Library, the Salem-Panola Library in Lithonia, and the Tucker Library.
The District 2, 3, and 7 seats on the DeKalb County Commission are up for reelection. The Super Commissioner District 7 seat, held by LaDena Bolton, is elected countywide. Bolton is running unopposed.
District 2, represented by Michelle Long Spears, runs from Brookhaven to Decatur. Spears is running against Republican Ben Pepper.
District 3 includes the southwest corner of DeKalb County and portions of the City of Atlanta. Democratic candidate Keyanna Jones Moore is facing Republican candidate Andrea Smith.
Two northern DeKalb cities have special elections. After Brookhaven City Council Member Jennifer Owens vacated the District 2 seat, Conor Sen was appointed to the seat. Sen is the only candidate who has qualified. Doraville has a special election for the District 2, Post 2 council seat previously held by Carrie Armistead, with several qualified candidates.
Fulton County
Fulton County, the state’s largest with a population just above one million, has 32 early voting locations from Milton to Chattahoochee Hills.
Across Fulton County, voters will decide whether to reimpose the 1% education sales tax starting July 1, 2027, for up to 5 years. It could generate about $2.1 billion. Approval also okays up to $350 million in Atlanta Public Schools bonds, but voters outside of the capital city also have a say.
Outside the City of Atlanta, voters will also decide whether to renew a 0.75% sales tax for transportation and congestion projects, running from April 1 next year through March 31, 2032. Atlanta has its own transportation-related sales tax.
The District 1,3, and 5 seats and the chair of the Fulton County Commission are up for reelection this year, with only one incumbent running for reelection, District 1 Commissioner Bridget Thorne.
Thorne faces a rematch against Democratic candidate Maggie Goldman. The District 3 race is Republican Paul Burton versus Democrat Jodi Merriday. District 5 voters will decide between Republican candidate Tiffany Heyward and Democratic candidate Hellen Willis, with two qualified write-in candidates.
The countywide race for chair is between former District 4 Commissioner Mo Ivory, the Democratic candidate against Republican candidate Eric Tatum.
In Sandy Springs, a referendum is on the ballot to change the city charter and pursue redevelopment powers.
Like DeKalb, Fulton is expanding the advanced voting period to Sunday, Oct. 18, and Oct. 25, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday voting on Oct. 17 and 24 is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The seven locations with drop boxes include the Alpharetta Library, the Buckhead Library, the C.T. Martin Recreation Area in Atlanta, the East Point Library, the East Roswell Library, the Sandy Springs Library, and the Wolf Creek Library in South Fulton.
Voters can also drop absentee ballots at Fulton County Registrar’s Offices in Atlanta, Sandy Springs, South Fulton, and Union City. The county discontinued allowing voters to return absentee-by-mail ballots at advance voting locations without a designated absentee ballot drop box.
Gwinnett County
Gwinnett’s November schedule runs Tuesday, Oct. 13 through Friday, Oct. 30, at 13 sites from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The county has not announced Sunday early voting, but has held it in the past.
Gwinnett County voters in Districts 2 and 4 will decide whether two incumbents on different sides of the aisle keep their seats. Incumbent District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku is facing Republican candidate Rodolfo Ochoa, and incumbent District 4 Commissioner Matthew Holtkamp is facing Democratic candidate Benjamin Culberson.
The incumbent Gwinnett County Solicitor General Lisamarie Bristol won the Democratic primary and does not face a qualified Republican challenger.
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• Nov. 3 special election to address Norcross City Council vacancy
• Experienced candidates to face off at Norcross City Council forum
For Norcross residents voting absentee by mail, the nearest drop box for absentee ballots is at the Lucky Shoals Park Community Recreation Center at 4651 Britt Road. Drop boxes are at about half of the county’s sites, including the Lawrenceville elections hub, Dacula, Suwanee, Snellville, Mountain Park, and Berkeley Lake.
