Clarkston voters will see three candidates on the ballot when they begin voting to fill a vacated City Council seat later this month.
Three candidates are on the ballot, including Shana “Tiny” McAllister, a small business owner; Dean Moore, a campus engineer; and Mark W. Perkins, a nonprofit consultant. The seat was previously held by Yterenickia “YT” Bell, who qualified to run for mayor of Clarkston during a 2020 special election but lost to Beverly Burks by roughly 450 votes.
The special election in March will complete the six-person City Council for Clarkston, which has a population of nearly 13,000. The new councilmember will hold the seat until the end of 2021, when Bell’s term was set to expire.
DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections announced last week that early voting will take place Feb. 22 through March 12 at its 4380 Memorial Drive office in Decatur. Residents can vote from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays during that period. The deadline to register to vote in the special election is Tuesday, Feb. 16.
March 16 is Election Day, and Clarkston residents will be required to cast their in-person ballots at their assigned precinct. Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and voters can verify their polling location at DeKalbVotes.com.
DeKalb Elections Director Erica Hamilton encouraged residents to practice social distancing and wear a mask to polling locations to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“For your safety and ours, we strongly recommend voters follow CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines while in public,” Hamilton said in a Thursday news release. “We will actively clean polling machines and hard surfaces at all of our precincts but ask the community to also remain vigilant in helping us combat this pandemic while exercising their right to vote.”
Residents also have the option to vote by absentee ballot. Five drop boxes will also be available for use. Three will be located at the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections off Memorial Drive. Single boxes will be at Clarkston City Hall, 3912 Church Street, and the Clarkston Library, 951 N. Indian Creek Drive.
Residents can also submit completed absentee ballots by mail or in-person to 4380 Memorial Drive. Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. March 16. For more information, call 404-298-4020.
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