Correction Oct. 11, 2017: DeKalb County and state election officials now say state law requires new city residents to be allowed to vote in Atlanta’s municipal elections Nov. 7 if the Emory University-area annexation is approved this month.
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Original article:
The upcoming election for Atlanta's next mayor won't be influenced by new voters who would become city residents if Emory University's annexation is approved.
The 2,491 registered voters who live in the 1.14-square-mile area are ineligible to participate in the Nov. 7 election or a potential Dec. 5 runoff because the state's voter registration deadline is Tuesday, while the annexation won't be decided until afterward.
The Atlanta City Council could vote Oct. 16 on the annexation of Emory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. It would be the city's largest expansion since adding Buckhead in 1952.
But the annexation area will change the city's demographics for future elections.
About 49 percent of Atlanta’s voting-age population was black and 44 percent was white, according to U.S. Census data for 2015, the most recent year available.
By comparison, the Emory annexation area is 63 percent white, 22 percent Asian and 11 percent black in 2017, according to the DeKalb County Geographic Information System Department.
In all, the annexation area has an estimated population of 6,376, according to the county. Many are students, with 64 percent of residents between the ages of 15 and 24.
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