Voter turnout was light Tuesday in runoff elections to fill out nearly half of the Atlanta Board of Education.
Four school board races were being decided, including a contest involving board Chairman Reuben McDaniel, who is being challenged by attorney Cynthia Briscoe Brown. Candidates in the other three runoffs were all newcomers.
About 20 percent of registered Atlanta voters cast ballots in last month’s general election, and runoff elections typically draw about half as many voters as general elections. Rainy conditions also could keep voters away.
At the polling place at Perkerson Elementary in south Atlanta, only three voters cast ballots during 30 minutes Tuesday afternoon. A few more people appeared to be showing up at Morris Brandon Elementary in north Atlanta, where just over 250 voters had cast ballots there by mid-afternoon.
The election will settle who will serve on a mostly new school board, where first-time representatives will occupy at least five of the board’s nine seats. The number of newcomers could grow to six if McDaniel loses re-election.
The school board faces major decisions next year, including hiring a superintendent, trying to raise the school district’s 51 percent graduation rate and improving academic results that are the lowest in the metro area.
Two of the four contested seats represent the entire city of Atlanta, and the other two races involve candidates to represent west and south Atlanta.
Voters were also choosing state legislators in Gwinnett County and Cartersville, a mayor in East Point and city council members in Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Austell, Pine Lake, Canton and East Point.
About the Author
