Nearly 60 percent of registered voters in Cobb County have voted as the final phase of the 2024 general elections awaits.
On Tuesday, Election Day, those voters who haven’t voted must go to their assigned precincts to cast their ballots, or submit absentee ballots.
After Friday’s finale for three weeks of early voting, Cobb Elections reports that 311,389 early votes have been cast, almost all of them in-person.
Nearly 18,000 absentee ballots have been accepted, and following a court order on Friday, those voters who got their ballots late and mailed them after Wednesday will have some extra time for them to be received in order to be counted.
The two early voting locations in East Cobb had some of the highest turnout, and here are the final individual breakdowns (full details here):
Tim D. Lee Senior Center: 40,508
Smyrna Community Center: 37,380
Cobb Elections Office: 34,036
East Cobb Government Service Center: 33,898
Ben Robertson Community Center: 26,900
Boots Ward Recreation Center: 24,197
South Cobb Community Center: 22,735
North Cobb Senior Center: 20,516
Ron Anderson Recreation Center: 18,383
West Cobb Regional Library: 16,304
Collar Park Community Center: 9,961
Fair Oaks Recreation Center: 8,805
Across Georgia, more than 3.7 million early votes have been cast, and total turnout is around 4 million, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Election Data Hub.
That’s also more than 55 percent of the eligible state electorate, as Georgia is once again a battleground state in the presidential race.
Nearly all of Georgia’s 159 counties have reported turnout of 40 percent or more, and with a few reporting near or surpassing 70 percent.
The polls on Tuesday will be open from 7-7, and voters must bring an photo identification with them.
To check your voter registration status and polling station, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
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Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Flournoy ruled Friday that they will have until 5 p.m. Friday to either mail or return their absentee ballots by hand to the Cobb Elections Office.
Flournoy issued an injunction extending the time from Tuesday’s 7 p.m. deadline following a lawsuit from several individual voters and the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Georgia, who accused the Cobb Elections office of failing to mail out the ballots in a timely fashion.
Cobb Elections began expediting the absentee ballots that were requested near the Oct. 25 deadline, saying they were overwhelmed with such requests and there was an “equipment failure.”
But more than 1,000 of those requested ballots are out of state, ruling out in-person return and making timely mail return difficult.
Those ballots covered under the order were mailed after Oct. 30 and must be postmarked by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Orders the Board of Elections to mail absentee ballots with prepaid express return envelopes by the end of the day on Nov. 1, 2024.
Directs the Elections Department to segregate absentee ballots returned after 7 p.m. on Election Day and on or before 5 p.m. on Nov. 8 and keep them in a secure container.
Requires the Elections Department to notify affected voters of the situation and this order via phone or email if contact information is available.
Requires the Elections Department to provide a list of affected voters to all parties in the case.
Voter who did not get absentee ballots may still vote in person on Tuesday at their assigned.
“The agreement gives us a solution that helps ensure the voting rights of those affected and gives the public the assurance that all those who want to cast a ballot legally can do so,” Cobb Elections board chairwoman Tori Silas said in a statement issued by Cobb government Friday.
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Following a surge of last-minute absentee ballot applications, Cobb Elections is collaborating with postal and delivery companies to expedite sending ballots to voters and ensure their timely return.
As of Wednesday, more than 3,000 absentee ballots requested by last Friday’s deadline had not been mailed. Elections workers will send most of them via USPS Express Mail or UPS Overnight Delivery by Friday morning. These ballots will include prepaid express return envelopes to ensure voters can return them by Tuesday’s deadline.
“We want to maintain voter trust by being transparent about the situation,” said Board of Elections Chairwoman Tori Silas. “We are taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them. Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the surge in requests and lacked the necessary equipment to process the ballots quickly.”
Voters who have not received their ballots can still vote in person on Friday, the final day of Advance Voting, or at their polling place on Election Day, Nov. 5. More than 1,000 absentee ballots are being sent out of state, and Elections officials are working with UPS to expedite their delivery.
Cobb Elections had contracted with a state-approved vendor to print and ship absentee ballots.
“After our vendor’s final run on Friday, we needed to utilize our in-house equipment for the final shipment of ballots, but the equipment was not working properly,” said Elections Director Tate Fall. “By the time we got the equipment online, the deadline for mailing the ballots had passed, prompting us to work with the US Postal Service and UPS to take extraordinary measures. Our team has been working around the clock to get the ballots out.”
Absentee ballot requests had been averaging around 440 per day, but in the last week, that number surged to 750 per day, with 985 requests submitted on Friday’s deadline.
Cobb Elections will extend the hours for absentee ballot returns at the Elections Headquarters this weekend. Voters can return their ballots to 995 Roswell Street, Marietta, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday.
Anyone with questions about their absentee ballot request can contact the Cobb Elections Department at 770-528-2581.
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Cobb Elections said it mailed incorrect location information to voters in two precincts, including one in East Cobb.
A county mailer that went out to voters in the Roswell 02 and Acworth 1C precincts had the wrong locations for those two precincts.
In Roswell 02 (see map below), the correct precinct is Mt. Zion United Methodist Church (1770 Johnson Ferry Road).
Mt. Zion has been the precinct location for Roswell 02 for a number of years but was unavailable for the June 2022 runoffs due to scheduling conflicts, according to Cobb Elections precinct information.
The polling station was temporarily relocated across the street, to the Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, but was moved back to Mt. Zion for the 2024 elections.
“We regret this error and are working to distribute the correct information via social media, our website, and the media,” Cobb Elections Director Tate Fall said in a county statement.
“Additionally, poll workers at the incorrectly listed locations will be ready to direct voters to the correct locations on Nov. 5. We encourage all voters to double-check their My Voter Page (mvp.sos.ga.gov) before heading out to vote on Election Day.”
The county said the mailers were “not part of a state mandate but an educational initiative approved earlier this year in a contingency package for the general election. They were a component of the county’s Strategic Plan to ‘enhance voter education to inform citizens about early voting, referenda, sample ballots, and registration.’ ”
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The Cobb Elections Office said Tuesday that voters with absentee ballots can drop them off this weekend at its headquarters.
The times are 8-5 Saturday and 12-5 Sunday at the Cobb Elections Office, 995 Roswell St., Marietta. It’s located just west of Cobb Parkway and the Big Chicken.
There’s no early voting this weekend, and the only absentee ballot dropoff options have been at selected locations during early voting hours.
As we noted in our early voting story Monday, the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) has an absentee ballot dropbox.
You can drop off an absentee ballot there from 7-7 daily through Friday.
The Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) is also open for early voting but does not have a dropbox.
The Cobb Elections Office must receive all absentee ballots on Election Day by 7 p.m., when the polls close, either by mail or hand-delivered.
Once a ballot has been received, it can no longer be canceled.
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Seven Cobb County Public Library locations will be closed on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, to be used as polling sites. Libraries that will close include:
Switzer Library
Mountain View Regional Library
South Cobb Regional Library
West Cobb Regional Library
Sewell Mill Library
Vinings Library
Gritters Library (which continues to be closed for construction)
All other branches will remain open throughout this time.
For official Advance Voting, absentee ballot information, and polling locations, visit cobbcounty.org/elections. For library details, visit cobbcat.org or call 770-528-2326.
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Cobb residents can vote ahead of the Nov. 5 general this week during weekday hours at 12 locations in the county.
They include the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road, above) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road), which have been two of the most popular early polling stations in the county over the past two weeks.
The early voting hours are from 7-7 Monday-Friday; unlike the last two weeks, there will be no weekend early voting.
In addition, there will be an absentee drop box available at the East Cobb Government Service Center that’s open during early voting hours.
To check the estimated wait-times at each of the 12 locations, click here. You can vote at any location in Cobb regardless of where you live in the county.
Here are the other locations, with dropbox availability noted by an asterisk:
Ben Robertson Community Center (2753 Watts Drive, Kennesaw)
* Boots Ward Recreation Center (4845 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs)
Collar Park Community Center (2625 Joe Jerkins Blvd., Austell)
Fair Oaks Recreation Center (1465 West Booth Road Extention, Marietta)
* North Cobb Senior Center (3900 Main St., Acworth)
Ron Anderson Recreation Center (3820 Macedonia Road, Powder Springs)
* Smyrna Community Center (1290 Powder Springs St., Smyrna)
* South Cobb Community Center (620 Lions Club Drive, Mableton)
West Cobb Regional Library (1750 Dennis Kemp Lane, Kennesaw)
Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details). For more early voting information in Cobb, click here.
More than 200,000 votes have been cast in Cobb, most of them in-person, nearly 40 percent of the registered voters, as early voting continues to set records across the state.
UPDATED, 3 p.m. Monday: The Secretary of State’s office said Monday that 2.73 million early votes have been cast, 40 percent of all registered voters in Georgia.
Voters who will be voting on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, will go to their assigned precincts. To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
All absentee ballots must be received by mail at the Cobb Elections Office or at a designated dropbox by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.
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There are still Saturday and Sunday totals to be added, but Cobb Elections is saying that through Friday, a grand total of 197,.548 ballots have been cast in the first two weeks of early voting for the 2024 general elections.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office Election Data Hub reports that that’s nearly 40 percent of Cobb’s registered voters, with six more days of early voting plus election day on Nov. 5.
Voting continues from Sunday 12-5, but at limited locations. The East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) will be among them.
That will be the last weekend day for early voting. Next week, early voting will be Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m at 12 locations, including the East Cobb Government Service Center and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
You can also drop off an absentee ballot at the East Cobb Government Service Center during early voting hours.
Those are also record figures statewide, as Georgia remains in play in the presidential race. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns will continue to appear in the state and metro Atlanta in the final week.
Across the state, more than 2.5 million votes have been cast, reflecting a turnout of nearly 50 percent of registered voters in Georgia.
Cobb Elections figures show that of those early votes already cast, 7,750 are absentee ballots that have been mailed in, out of nearly 12,000 returned. More than 27,000 absentee ballots have been requested as of Friday, the deadline for doing so.
Here are the individual breakdowns through Friday at each of the early voting locations.
Tim D. Lee Senior Center: 26,953
Smyrna Community Center: 23,871
East Cobb Government Service Center: 21,261
Cobb Elections Office: 21,242
Ben Robertson Community Center: 17,098
South Cobb Community Center: 16,611
Boots Ward Recreation Center: 16,108
North Cobb Senior Center: 13,715
Ron Anderson Recreation Center: 12,202
West Cobb Regional Library: 11,411
Collar Park Community Center: 6,213
Fair Oaks Recreation Center: 5,112
For more early voting information in Cobb, click here. Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details).
To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
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Former Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, who has rarely commented publicly on county government and politics since he left office in 2021, is speaking out against the proposed 30-year transit tax referendum.
Last week he said submitted a lengthy letter expressing his opposition to the tax to the Marietta Daily Journal, but released it elsewhere after he was told it wouldn’t be published until Saturday.
“That’s like 50,00 voters from now,” Ott told the East Cobb News on Monday, as the second week of early voting is underway in Cobb County for the 2024 general election.
East Cobb News separately obtained a copy of the letter (you can read it in full here), which closes with him saying that the tax is “a bad idea and needs to be defeated.”
A retired Delta Air Lines pilot, Ott said he’s contributed to a Vote No on M-SPLOST group started by former Cobb Chamber of Commerce leader John Loud.
Ott, a Republican from East Cobb who served District 2 from 2009-2020, said in the letter than in addition to the 30-year duration of what’s being called the Cobb Mobility SPLOST (“think about that for a moment; your middle schooler would be in their mid 40s at the end of the tax’), the tax isn’t a Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax, such as the county and Cobb County School District have for shorter periods for specific construction and maintenance purposes.
“Many will remember my numerous NO votes for previous SPLOST proposals because I felt that the project list was mostly wants and not needs,” Ott wrote. “In most cases there wasn’t anything special about the projects, they were just other ways to spend money. This proposal is a long way from the intent of a SPLOST.”
He said that one of the differences is that if the referendum is approved, a new regional transit authority, ATL, would have to approve transit projects in Cobb. “The majority of the ATL committee members are not from Cobb. So how are they going to know what is in the best interest for Cobb related to transit related projects?”
He said the biggest need in Cobb is transportation between the Cumberland area and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but the transit tax “is silent on any links.”
Other needed transportation projects include widening Roswell Road east from Johnson Ferry Road to the Fulton County line, but it doesn’t “need a 30-year tax to be completed.
“A proper review of county needs vs wants is needed long before giving the county and the commissioners any more of our hard-earned money.”
Ott said it’s hard to look into a crystal ball and envision future needs for the current six-year Cobb SPLOST, which was approved two years in advance, much less three decades.
Like other transit tax opponents, Ott said the low ridership figures in general don’t warrant such a lengthy, broad-based solution to transportation issues.
“Here in East Cobb and many other suburban parts of the county, transit and transportation must compete with the car to be remotely successful,” he wrote. “This transit tax is just like many of the others; it can’t compete.”
The proposed transit tax would restore a little-used bus route in East Cobb that was axed by commissioners during the recession.
Ott told East Cobb News that he tried to get the bus stops along that route on Roswell Road removed, but they continue to generate local advertising revenue.
“I don’t think ridership will improve” if that route comes back, he said. “Transit in Cobb is all about will it compete with the car? It really doesn’t.”
Ott told East Cobb News that when he left office (see our Dec. 2020 interview), he was retiring from politics for good, and wanted to follow the example of former President George W. Bush by staying out of the public spotlight.
“I’ve been trying to do the same thing,” Ott said.
But in addition to his concerns about the tax, he said former constituents and others have been asking him about it.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people who say that they don’t know about it,” Ott said.
Ott, who lives in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, said he was approached about running for commission chair, but declined.
“I’m done with politics,” he said.
Since his departure, Cobb has gone from solidly Republican to having a 3-2 Democratic majority on the commission.
In addition, Cobb countywide office-holders are all Democrats, with one exception (State Court Clerk Robin Bishop).
When asked if a Republican can win countywide office anytime soon, Ott said “I’m not going to speculate.”
But he said that “our elections have turned away from the issues” and have become “character assassinations” that ignore what candidates stand for.
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The Tim D. Lee Senior Center has had the highest turnout in the first week of early voting in Cobb.
Saturday’s early voting is continuing as we write this, but according to Cobb Elections the first four days of early voting brought more than 80,000 people to the polls.
That’s coming as the Georgia Secretary of State’s office announced more than 1 million people have voted early in the first few days across the state.
Voting continues from Sunday 12-5, but at limited locations. The East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) will be among them.
All early voting spots will be open from 7-7 next Monday through Saturday; you can check estimated wait-times by clicking here.
The East Cobb Government Service Center also has a drop box for absentee ballots that is open during early voting hours.
According to the latest update, 84,234 votes have been cast in Cobb, most of them in-person. A total of 3,2100 or so absentee ballots have been returned, out of more than 24,000 issued and 1,000 or so have been accepted.
Here are the individual breakdowns through Friday at each of the early voting locations.
For more early voting information in Cobb, click here. Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details).
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Oct. 25. You can get an application online from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office by clicking here.
To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
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As he’s campaigned for public office for the first time, John Cristadoro said he’s heard from parents and others who’ve suggested that the Cobb County School District needs to consider making considerable change to improve.
He couldn’t disagree more.
The parent of a Walton varsity volleyball player and a Dickerson Middle School student, Cristadoro said he’s running for a seat on the Cobb Board of Education to preserve what he says is a successful formula for all students to succeed.
“Cobb County schools are amazing,” Cristadoro said in a recent interview with East Cobb News, adding that his primary objective, if elected to the open Post 5 seat, “is to help keep Cobb schools excellent.”
He’s a Republican facing Democrat Laura Judge (our profile of her is here) in the Nov. 5 general election, with the winner succeeding retiring four-term GOP member David Banks.
Post 5 includes most of the Pope, Walton and Wheeler attendance zones and some of the Sprayberry zone (see map below), and was redrawn by the Georgia legislature this year after being under a federal court order due to the Voting Rights Act.
Cristadoro, a digital media entrepreneur who coaches his son’s 8th grade football team, is aware of the partisan dynamic at stake in this election.
Republicans hold a 4-3 majority, and GOP incumbents Randy Scamihorn and Brad Wheeler are also up for re-election.
Wheeler and Banks both narrowly won re-election in 2020, and since then partisan division has increased.
Cristadoro was recruited to run by former Cobb Chamber of Commerce president John Loud, a business client, who also is backing Republican Cobb Commission Chair candidate Kay Morgan.
But Cristadoro said he listens to Democratic voters and believes his priorities shouldn’t have a partisan edge.
The board’s GOP majority and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale have come in for criticism on a number of topics, but Cristadoro defends the records of both.
“I could care less about partisan affiliation,” he said, adding that what he calls a “hyperpartisan” atmosphere “is what happens when some people are upset.”
He said the board has done well in its key roles—approving the superintendent’s contract, backing state academic standards, being a voice for constituents, ensuring academic excellence and continuing accreditation and passing a balanced budget—all of which have the Cobb school district positioned for continued success.
Safety
The recent fatal mass shootings at Apalachee High School have prompted calls in Cobb for stronger security measures.
Cristadoro was coaching the Walton 8th grade football team recently in a game at the South Cobb High School stadium when shots rang out. One person was injured, and a 14-year-old was detained.
“We heard something go pop, and realized it was a shooting,” he said.
Within a minute, “there were like 40 cops and we took cover in an auditorium.
“At that moment, there was no safer place in Cobb County” because of the quick response from law enforcement, which included the presence of officers from a nearby Cobb Police precinct.
“There are always threats to our kids,” Cristadoro said, but he’s confident the Cobb school district is adequately addressing the issue (Ragsdale has said he’s making a safety presentation this month).
Book removals
Cristadoro also supports Ragsdale’s efforts to remove books from school libraries that have sexually explicit content.
He said he opened up one of the removed books, “Flamer,” and wondered, “why would a parent want to expose their kid to this? It’s the job of the schools to evaluate inappropriate content.”
He said he doesn’t understand those parents and others who complain of “book bans.”
“Why do they want to die on that hill? If you talk to a sensible parent, they want to have their parental rights protected.”
Academics
Cristadoro’s daughter is an honor student at Walton, but he said he understands speculation surrounding the school that “achievers get more attention.”
He doesn’t think there needs to be dramatic change to boost students at all levels of the academic performance level. Improved test scores across the board reflect efforts to focus on areas of need, rather than through major changes.
“Can we improve?” he said. “Yes, but in general things are pretty great here. We have a solid reputation for academic excellence, and I want to continue that.”
Cristadoro also supports efforts to introduce high school students to entrepreneurial initiatives.
Finances
Cristadoro thinks the district has been a good steward of taxpayer money, despite complaints from critics about a $50 million proposed special events center that eventually was scuttled.
Cristadoro said he doesn’t know “all that went into that decision,” but said some district critics “pick and choose” their topics.
He said he “couldn’t say yes or no” to whether he would have supported the special events center—with opponents revealing site plans the district never released, showing it to be on a larger scale than initially proposed.
But with a district annual budget of more than $1 billion, Cristadoro said he’s puzzled that the focus is on only a number of items.
“They seem to beat the same issues,” he said. “Sure these things deserve a conversation, but it’s over and over and over again.”
Common ground
Despite some of the sharp differences on key issues, Cristadoro said his discussions with parents and potential constituents have been positive and constructive.
He senses that most of them are more concerned with their children’s progress in school and not focused on a party affiliation next to a candidate’s name, or some of the topics that command attention at school board meetings.
“There are a lot of people who are issue-focused and not candidate-focused, and I think that’s great,” he said.
Some Republicans have said a Democratic board majority would usher in the wrong kind of change, and most likely lead to a new superintendent.
Cristadoro hasn’t gone that far, but said that “people really do appreciate our district” and aren’t pining for a a comprehensive overhaul as a means to making progress.
“We could always be working together to focus on what’s right,” he said, “and not just on what’s wrong.”
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On a record day for early voting in Georgia, Cobb voters turned out in strong numbers Tuesday to cast their ballots.
According to Cobb Elections figures, 21,986 votes have been cast in the 2024 general election. More than 98 percent have been in person, and the two polling places in the East Cobb area have some of the highest totals.
A total of 2,993 voters turned out at the Tim D. Lee Center on Sandy Plains Road on Tuesday, and another 2,029 votes were cast at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road.
At the Smyrna Community Center, 2.,344 votes were cast on the first day of early voting.
Cobb Elections said it has received around 1,280 absentee ballots out of 23,640 issued, and has accepted 329. Another 543 provisional ballots have been issued, and six of those have been returned.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday that more than 310,000 people voted across the state on Monday, a record for a first day of early voting.
By comparison, the first-day 2020 early voting turnout in Georgia was 136,739.
By mid-day Wednesday, the turnout numbers had grown to 459,250, with almost all of them in-person.
The line to wait at the East Cobb Government Service Center continues to be the longest of the 12 polling stations in Cobb (wait-time map here).
The East Cobb Government Center also is the site of an absentee ballot drop box that is open during early voting hours.
For more early voting information in Cobb, click here. Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details).
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Oct. 25. You can get an application online from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office by clicking here.
To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Laura Judge has said that her son inspired her run for the Cobb Board of Education more than a year ago.
As early voting gets underway in the 2024 general election, Judge reiterated that kids—her own and well as others—remain the focal point of her campaign.
“The [school board] representative didn’t match what was in our home,” Judge said, a reference to retiring school board member David Banks.
Running to succeed him, she added, is “being that role model for them.”
A Democrat and first-time candidate for public office, Judge is seeking the Post 5 post, which comprises most of the Walton and Wheeler and some of the Pope attendance zones.
Her daughter is in 5th grade at Mt. Bethel Elementary School and her son is a freshman at the School for International Studies at North Cobb High School, a magnet program.
Judge, who runs a content marketing company with her husband, will be facing Republican John Cristadoro, also a political newcomer and Walton-zone parent. Neither candidate had a primary opponent.
The Post 5 seat is one of three on the seven-member Cobb school board currently occupied by Republicans, who hold a 4-3 majority.
While the East Cobb-based seat is in one of the remaining Republican strongholds in Cobb County, Democrat Charisse Davis represented the area when Post 6 still included the Walton and Wheeler zones.
In recent years, partisan differences have become more pronounced on the board. In announcing her candidacy last year, Judge said she doesn’t want “radical change,” and reiterated that point in a recent East Cobb News interview.
“This should be about our kids,” she said. “My platform—I don’t think these are partisan things.”
You can visit Judge’s campaign website by clicking here; East Cobb News has interviewed Cristadoro and will be posting his profile shortly.
“I want our district to stay the beacon it is but make improvements along the way so everyone can feel included,” Judge said.
Her three priorities would address fiscal, literacy and communications issues she said can be better in the Cobb County School District.
The Post 5 lines redrawn in 2023 include most of the Walton and Wheeler and some of the Pope attendance zones.
Finances
A former member of Watching the Funds-Cobb—a citizens group that scrutinizes Cobb school district finances—Judge said a decision by the board in July to cancel plans for a $50 million events center exemplifies spending and communications concerns.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale strongly pushed the center as a venue for graduation ceremonies, but the district didn’t release a detailed site plan.
Watching the Funds was opposed from the beginning, and released those plans shortly before Ragsdale recommended the project be scuttled. The plans included an arena-style facility and expanded meeting space.
“It should have come to someone leaking the plans to see what they were doing,” Judge said.
She said she heard from parents who wondered what the value was and how it boosted students’ education.
“We don’t do things sight unseen,” she said. The special events center “was sight unseen.”
Literacy
Judge got involved with literacy issues after her daughter’s struggles with reading.
She said the Cobb school district has made strides with post-COVID literacy initiatives, but she still has “not seen measurable goals.”
Judge supports new programs along those lines that include more dyslexia screening, among other things.
Right now, she said those issues are largely undertaken at the school level, but “I would like to see this addressed as a district.”
She said 75 percent of Cobb students are reading on grade level, and that number hovers around 85 percent at schools in the East Cobb area, but she would like to see those numbers go up.
Communications
Cobb school district and school board critics have complained for several years that there’s not enough transparency on key issues, including meeting agendas and the budget.
Cobb posts meeting agendas roughly 48 hours in advance of meetings, the minimum for doing so for in Georgia school districts.
Judge would like to see those agendas posted even earlier, to give the public more time to digest what’s coming up.
The same goes for public budget hearings that are required by law. But she said the schedules for those hearings need to be made “more responsive,” and not right before the budget is adopted in the spring.
Judge also would like to see the Cobb school district revive the parent advisory councils that were at schools.
She said that the Cobb school district’s success may have prompted some defensiveness in response to some of those critics.
“My impression is they don’t like criticism,” she said. “When you’ve done well for so long, I can understand that.
“People come here for the schools, and when [the distict is] questioned, it’s a defense mechanism.”
She added that “we can work with constructive criticism. It gives us an idea of how we can improve.”
Safety
Keeping students in a safe environment is “not just about shootings,” Judge said.
The recent deadly shooting at Apalachee High School prompted a number of threats in Cobb, including Dickerson Middle School, and Walton High School, that the Cobb school district has said are not actual threats to those campuses.
“I know our district takes every threat as a serious threat, and I believe we have really good security,” she said, referring to the district’s police department.
“But what I miss is a conversation with the parents. The community just needs the reassurance.”
At the September board meeting, Ragsdale said he would be making a security presentation when the board meets again later this week.
Judge said other safety issues concern those students who don’t feel secure due to such matters as anti-Semitic threats. The Cobb school district has done away with a “No Place for Hate” program prepared by the Atlanta office of the Anti-Defamation League.
Book removals
Judge has been among those parents questioning Ragsdale’s removals of books in school libraries he said contain sexually explicit content.
“I believe that our superintendent thinks he is keeping our kids safe,” Judge said. “What I can’t entirely agree with is the superintendent’s unilateral decision to remove books he has deemed
inappropriate. True parental involvement and choice means having a transparent process allowing parents or caregivers to review and challenge book removals.”
Judge said the Cobb school district should use the expertise of media specialists “to make sure that our students are reflected and educated properly. Their voices in this process are also important. This ensures a balanced approach respecting all viewpoints.”
“What happens if a book removed reflects our community’s values? Some of these books that have been removed have been on our shelves for years, why did the district just find out about them? How do we need to address our operational or procurement policies as a team focused on our students? Both our board and district policies must reflect a wide range of perspectives, ensuring educational content meets the needs of our community and follows state standards, while fostering a respectful dialogue among all stakeholders.”
Leadership challenge
In summing up her campaign pitch, Judge said that “I want our leadership to match the stellar schools that we have.”
She said that she’s “not going to be someone that’s going to pick fights. Our kids should be able to see us working together. We agree on a lot more than we disagree, because it’s not just about my kids, but all of our kids.”
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Early voting is underway in Cobb and Georgia for the next three weeks, and some long lines have already been reported at some of the polling stations in the county.
One of them is at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road), which in recent election cycles has been one of the most-visited sites for early voting.
It’s one of 12 early voting precincts that will be used between now and Nov. 1. Another is the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road). Voters can go to any of these 12 regardless of where they live in the county.
Since the 2020 elections, the Cobb GIS office, in conjunction with Cobb Elections is providing a wait-time map in real time (link here).
The map is updated throughout the day by the site managers and is only an estimate.
As we noted earlier, here is the early voting schedule:
The East Cobb Government Center also is the site of an absentee ballot drop box that is open during early voting hours.
For more early voting information in Cobb, click here. Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details).
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Oct. 25. You can get an application online from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office by clicking here.
To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
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The head of a citizens group opposing the proposed Cobb transit tax has filed an ethics complaint against Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid.
Lancee Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayer Association on Monday alleged that Cupid, the primary supporter of the 30-year one-percent sales tax, is “running an advocacy campaign” to promote what’s being called the Cobb Mobility SPLOST with what should be a neutral education campaign.
He cited a state law saying that those publicly-funded campaigns should not take a position.
Lance Lamberton
Voters in Cobb began going to the polls Tuesday with the transit tax referendum on their ballots. If approved, the tax would collect an estimated $11.4 billion over 30 years to fund an expansion of the existing CobbLinc bus system, including 108 new miles of routes and several transfer stations.
A transfer station and two bus routes are being planned for East Cobb, which hasn’t had bus service since the recession.
The county is paying an Atlanta consulting firm $287,000 to produce information about the referendum, including a page on the county government website, but opponents have said that information is not neutral.
In his complaint, filed with Cobb County Clerk Pam Mabry, Lamberton said a video and flyer as part of the education campaign states that “‘this initiative seeks to improve the county’s transit infrastructure with a focus on safety, flexibility, and reliability tailored to meet the specific needs of our growing community and local economy.’ Moreover, county staff, including the county manager and the director of the DOT, among others, are enlisted to make these advocacy statements in the videos.”
Those statements include the following, according to Lamberton’s complaint:
“M-SPLOST can make transit faster, more frequent and more reliable with 73 miles of BRT. It helps you by-pass traffic like when you are on a train.”
“The Cobb transit plan could transform bus stops and transfer points, creating a safer and welcoming accessible experience.”
And finally:
“Check this out! Discover how transit is connecting our community with opportunities and find out how Cobb’s MSPLOST referendum could expand transit services in our county.”
Lamberton wrote that “clearly the language of these statements express opinions in favor the SPLOST proposal, and as the highest elected official in County government, it is incumbent upon the Chairwoman to refrain from temptation to do so, and to prohibit county staff from doing so, as is proscribed under state law, cited above. In short, those who make the laws should not break the laws.”
East Cobb News has left a message with Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt seeking comment from Cupid.
It’s unlikely that the Cobb Ethics Board would hear Lamberton’s complaint “in an expeditious manner,” i.e., before the Nov. 5 election.
Lamberton’s group is one of two that has been vocal against the referendum.
Last week former Cobb Chamber of Commerce president John Loud, other business leaders and Republican elected officials held a rally opposing the tax.
While the three Democratic commissioners, including Cupid, voted to put the proposed tax out to referendum last year, Republican commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill were opposed.
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From Oct. 15-Nov. 1, Georgia and Cobb voters can cast their ballots in person in advance of the Nov. 5 general election.
The 2024 elections feature new some boundaries due to court-ordered redistricting, particularly in races for the Cobb Board of Education.
The Cobb Board of Elections and Cobb GIS are providing an estimated wait-time map that will be updated several times a day during the early voting period.
When, where, how to vote
Early voting will take place at select locations around the county, including the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) as follows:
There is no early voting from Nov. 2-4. On election day, Nov. 5, voters will go their assigned precincts.
For more locations for early voting, click here. Cobb voters can cast early ballots at any location in the county regardless of where they live.
Voters must bring a valid photo ID with them to the polls (click here for details).
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is Oct. 25. You can get an application online from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office by clicking here.
There is an absentee ballot drop box at the East Cobb Government Service Center that is open during early voting hours.
Absentee ballots must be received in person or by mail at the Cobb Elections office or delivered to a designated drop box by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5, when the polls close for good on election day.
To check your voter registration status, and to get a customized sample ballot, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
Who/What’s on the ballot?
The U.S. Presidential race headlines a lengthy ballot for Georgia voters, but there are many local elections to be decided.
Cobb voters will decide whether to approve a 30-year sales tax to fund expanded bus transit operations, including a transfer station in East Cobb and the restoration of previous routes along Roswell and Johnson Ferry roads.
In East Cobb, voters will choose a new Post 5 member to the Cobb Board of Education, following the retirement of four-term member David Banks.
The candidates are both first-timers, Democrat Laura Judge, and Republican John Cristadoro. They are parents of students in the Walton High School attendance zone.
The Post 5 boundaries were changed during a court-ordered redistricting that placed some of the Wheeler attendance zone in Post 6. Post 5 includes most of the Walton and Wheeler zones, along with some of the Pope zones (map here).
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, a Democrat, is seeking a second term and is being opposed by Republican Kay Morgan.
Other countywide races include District Attorney, Sheriff, Tax Commissioner, Superior Court Clerk and State Court Clerk. Non-partisan judicial races were decided during the May primaries.
The Georgia 11th Congressional District that includes East Cobb is on the ballot, as are all legislative seats.
Those legislative seats with East Cobb constituencies include districts 32, 33 and 56 in the Georgia Senate, and districts 37, 43, 44, 45 and 46 in the Georgia House.
There will be special elections in 2025 to determine District 2 and District 4 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, after a court ruling struck down the county’s home rule claims for redistricting,
Those elections are do-overs from the May primaries using now-invalidated electoral maps.
District 2 had included some of East Cobb put has been pushed west of the Powers Ferry Road corridor.
Most of East Cobb is now represented by District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a Republican, whose current term expires at the end of 2026.
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One of the most high-profile business leaders in Cobb County organizing a rally this week against the Cobb transit tax referendum that’s on the November ballot.
John Loud
The event on Thursday was led by John Loud and Cobb Republican state legislators John Carson and Ginny Ehrhart “and other Cobb County business leaders.”
Loud is the founder of Loud Security Systems and is a former president of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. He was a key figure in efforts to lure the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County in 2013.
He has become more active politically recently, recruiting Republican candidates John Cristadoro (Cobb Board of Education Post 4) and Kay Morgan (Cobb Commission Chair) to run for office in 2024.
What’s being called the Cobb Mobility SPLOST, if approved by voters in the referendum, raise the current sales tax totals in Cobb County from six to seven cents on the dollar.
The transit tax would collect a one-percent Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax for 30 years (more than $11 billion) to expand bus service in Cobb County, including 108 new miles of routes as well as construction of transfer stations and expansion of microtransit and other related services.
In a social media post Monday, Loud called the tax “such a waste of money” and said the county hasn’t been transparent on ridership figures and how the money would be spent.
The MDJ has reported that ridership across the overall Cobb bus system has plummeted from 3.7 million annual trips in 2014 to just under 1 million trips in 2022, and that the decline began well before COVID-19.
Cobb commissioners voted in a 3-2 partisan vote in June to put the tax out for a referendum. It’s the longest and most ambitious sales tax in Cobb County, and Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has frequently defended both in public statements.
“What it comes down to is do we perceive the future is worth it?” she said before the vote in June. “We can do something that is transformational . . . it enhances our ability to serve our own citizens.”
Loud said in a social media post Monday that while he supports the current sales taxes to finance Cobb County government and Cobb County School District construction and maintenance projects, “this M-SPLOST, for public transportation is nothing like the others.”
The existing SPLOSTs have been approved since the late 1990s for shorter periods (typically four to six years), have committed project lists and citizen oversight committees.
If the Mobility SPLOST passes, he claimed on the Vote NO M-SPLOST Facebook page he created, that “future elected officials can make all sorts of changes and use these funds in all sorts of ways as there is no committed full list of how these [BILLION$ Lisa Cupid] will be spent.”
Among the proposed projects that would be funded with the transit tax is the construction of a bus transfer station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry Road area and the restoration of two bus routes through East Cobb that were eliminated during recession budget cuts.
Loud claimed that nearly $300,000 of taxpayer money has been diverted for “an education campaign” to inform voters about the referendum, and that Cupid “pressured” Community Improvement Districts to spend around $260,000 on “education initiatives” for the tax.
The former figure is around $287,000 that’s being paid to Kimley-Horn, an Atlanta consulting firm, to build an informational web site for the tax and to hold open houses.
The latter reference includes around $100,000 in contributions by the Cumberland CID and around $110,000 by the Town Center CID, per the MDJ.
The county cannot officially make an endorsement on the tax, but a sentence on the SPLOST “overview” page states that “this initiative seeks to improve the county’s transit infrastructure with a focus on safety, flexibility, and reliability tailored to meet the specific needs of our growing community and local economy.”
More than 200 people have joined the Facebook page started by Loud and Carson, and some are fellow GOP elected officials and conservative activists.
Opposition also has come from the Cobb Taxpayer Association, which held a rally in East Cobb last month.
The Cobb Business Alliance, made up of companies in the construction industry, has also launched a website that it says is informational only.
However, the CBA sent out media and other invitations to its campaign kickoff in support of the tax, and that Cupid attended.
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The Cobb Board of Elections meeting on Monday was adjourned prematurely after someone in the audience shouted “Heil Hitler” during a public comment period.
The board had just heard a comment from citizen Hugh Norris, who was critical of an elections board member who does not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at board meetings.
His comments were directed at board member Jennifer Mosbacher of East Cobb, whom Norris called a “closeted Communist” who wasn’t demonstrating proper loyalty to her duties and who should be replaced.
After he was finished, some applause broke out, followed by the “Heil Hitler” remark.
Mosbacher, who is Jewish, immediately began waving her arms in protest.
“Who said that?” she said.
“That is extremely unacceptable,” board chairwoman Tori Silas said. “It’s completely out of order.”
Board attorney Daniel White said that commenters can speak out what they like, even if it’s “ugly,” but they can’t proceed in a way that disrupts the flow of the meeting. He thought that comment fit the latter description, since it amounted to hate speech.
“We’re going to calm it down, and let people have a chance to take a pause, don’t make it personal, people can say what they want and we’ll move forward,” he said.
But Mosbacher said that “anti-Semitic rhetoric, not acceptable. I’m won’t continue to sit in this seat if that person is in this room.”
Silas agreed, and said it is not “a matter of what can happen, it is a matter of what will not happen. . . . We can just stop this meeting.”
White looked at the audience and asked whomever the commenter was to leave the room.
When no one did, Silas said, “So you’re going to hide behind the statement?”
Elections board member Stacy Efrat, also of East Cobb, said “we cannot allow this person to stay in this room. It is hate speech and it is unacceptable.
“We can all disagree with each other’s political views, but we cannot allow hate speech.”
As county staff tried to locate commenter, Mosbacher made a reference to Leo Frank, a Jew who was lynched in Marietta in 1915.
Board member Debbie Fisher of East Cobb said it should be “standard duty” for the board not to engage with the audience. “I just think we may be adding a little fuel to the fire.”
Silas replied that “unfortunately, we are in uncharted territory with that type of hate speech being hurled at this board.”
When the “Heil Hitler” commenter could not be located, the board voted 4-0-1 to adjourn, with Fisher abstaining.
It was unclear when the elections board, which holds monthly regular meetings, would resume this one.
You can watch the sequence at the 1:02-hour mark in the video below.
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The League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb has invited candidates in three contested Cobb Board of Education general election races to a forum.
The forums for posts 1, 5 and 7 are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 6-8 p.m. at the Switzer Library (266 Roswell Street, Marietta) and also will be livestreamed on YouTube.
The moderator is Chesley McNeil of 11Alive.
The three races are Post 1 in North Cobb, Post 5 in East Cobb and Post 7 in West Cobb. Republicans hold all three seats, and there are Democrats entered in each one.
The Post 5 seat, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is open. Four-term Republican David Banks is retiring, and his successor will be one of two newcomers.
GOP hopeful John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, parents in he Walton area, both announced their candidacies more than a year ago.
Post 1 Republican incumbent Randy Scamihorn is facing Democrat Vickie Benson in a rematch from the 2020 election, and in Post 7, two-term GOP member Brad Wheeler is being opposed by Democrat Andrew Cole, a first-time candidate.
The term in Post 3 in South Cobb also expires at the end of the year, but first-term Democrat Tre’ Hutchins did not draw any opposition in either party.
School board races this year have drawn increased attention. Republicans hold a 4-3 edge, and partisan squabbling has been a regular feature at meetings in recent years. Democrats hold the majority on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the county’s legislative delegation in what had been a GOP stronghold.
The Post 5 and 7 races were close four years ago, as Banks and Wheeler were narrowly re-elected.
But the Post 5 lines have been changed since then due to reapportionment, to include most areas south of Sandy Plains and Shallowford Road and north of Lower Roswell Road.
(The school board post boundaries, which are drawn by the Georgia legislature, are not the same has school attendance zones, which are drawn administratively by the Cobb County School District).
The forum, which is free and open to the public, includes partnerships with Cobb Collaborative Vote Your Voice, Cobb Democracy Center, Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Mi Familia en Acción, and redefinED Atlanta.
To register for in-person or virtual attendance click here; you can find the Spanish-language version by clicking here.
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The Cobb Department of Transportation has announced the first public information meetings for the Cobb Mobility SPLOST, the proposed 30-year transit tax that’s up for a referendum vote in November.
What it’s calling “MSPLOST talks” will take place at four Cobb library branches on Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 5-7 p.m.
The locations include the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
Cobb DOT said the meetings are open houses and will have no formal presentations. Other locations will be at the Smyrna, North Cobb and Stratton library branches at the same time.
“Drop in to learn about the proposed initiatives, ask questions, and share your thoughts on how MSPLOST funds will be utilized to benefit our community,” Cobb DOT said Thursday in a social media posting.
Under state law, government agencies cannot advocate a position on a referendum vote.
But Cobb commissioners have approved a $287,000 contract with Kimley-Horn, an Atlanta consulting firm, to provide what’s called “educational” information and resources about the proposed tax, including holding public meetings.
Last week, Cobb DOT unveiled its MSPLOST website and is expected to hold further public meetings to be announced.
The tax, if approved by voters in the Nov. 5 general election, would collect one percent of sales tax to fund expanded bus services, transfer stations and related services and facilities, for a total of $11 billion.
Currently Cobb consumers pay six cents’ worth of sales taxes, including SPLOSTs (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) for Cobb government and schools.
Among the projects that would be funded with the transit tax is the construction of a bus transfer station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry Road area and the restoration of two bus routes through East Cobb that were eliminated during recession budget cuts.
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