Voters likely won’t decide Stonecrest cityhood until November
A referendum on whether to form the city of Stonecrest will likely be held in November, not in May as incorporation supporters had hoped.
DeKalb County elections officials and Jason Lary, president of the Stonecrest City Alliance, said last week it would be difficult to arrange the referendum in conjunction with May 24 primary election, as called for by Senate Bill 208.
Stonecrest would include about 50,000 residents who live in southeast DeKalb near I-20.
The DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections already voted last week against adding a separate election — for DeKalb Commission District 7 — to the May 24 ballot, citing logistical hurdles for voters and election employees. Georgia election law would have required separate ballots for the primary and the commission race, and the county would have had to spend up to $400,000 for additional staff and equipment.
A referendum for Stonecrest held within two months would face similar challenges. After the primary election, the next available date for a vote on Stonecrest is Nov. 8, the date of the general election, according to state law.
The Georgia Senate gave final approval Thursday for Stonecrest to be decided in a referendum.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
