Gwinnett’s election board voted last week to rescind a policy prohibiting the county from running municipal elections, a step that some hope could lead to less confusing election days for residents of local cities.

The policy change does not mandate officials from Gwinnett — the only major metro Atlanta county that doesn’t administer elections for at least some of the cities within its bounds — to do so. But it does remove a significant barrier for future conversations along those lines.

Peachtree Corners City Councilman Eric Christ pushed for the change after seeing local residents forced to vote at one place for county, state and federal races, then head to another polling place to cast ballots for mayor, city council and other local matters.

Christ believes that such an arrangement breeds confusion and has the potential to limit voter participation.

It may still be a tough sell on the county level.

Outgoing elections supervisor Lynn Ledford told the AJC earlier this year that she’s agnostic to the idea, but that fears about “complication of the ballot” and an already shorthanded staff have driven past resistance to the idea.

Gwinnett Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash said the idea has been evaluated before.

“The primary findings of earlier evaluations are that having the county handle city elections is more confusing to city voters and more costly for the cities,” Nash said in May.

Typically, cities would compensate the county for the cost of running their election or adding local issues to the larger ballot.

In other Gwinnett news:

Nassir Islaam Harris thought that he graduated from Shiloh High School in 2016, but just found out that he was actually required to retake a gateway test to be credited with earning his degree.

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Chris Van Beneden, left, who worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 25 years, and Julie Edelson, who worked there for 10, protest in support of the CDC in front of its Atlanta headquarters on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, after layoffs were announced. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

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People join a rally in support for U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees on Tuesday afternoon, April 1, 2025, at the Atlanta headquarters after federal cuts triggered significant layoffs. (Photo: Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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