How to Vote in Atlanta

Everything a voter in Atlanta needs for the November 3, 2026 general election, whether you live in Fulton County or DeKalb County: who can register and how, what ID to bring, when and where to vote early, how absentee ballots work, and where to find every office on the ballot with the person who holds it now.

Register or update your registration by Monday, October 5, 2026. You can do it online in a few minutes with a Georgia driver’s license or state ID.

Early voting runs Tuesday, October 13 through Friday, October 30, including Saturdays October 17 and 24. Vote at any early voting site in your county.

Want an absentee ballot? Request it by Friday, October 23. Any Georgia voter can. The completed ballot must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day — a postmark is not enough.

Bring a photo ID every time you vote in person. No ID? You can still cast a provisional ballot and show ID within three days.

You can register and vote in Georgia if you are a U.S. citizen, a legal resident of Georgia and of your county, and 18 by Election Day (you can register at 17½). You cannot register while you are serving a sentence for a felony, or if a court has judged you mentally incompetent.

Georgia restores your right to vote when your entire sentence is complete — prison, probation, parole, and any fines owed. Then you register like anyone else. If you are unsure whether your sentence is finished, ask your county elections office before the registration deadline.

Georgia asks for photo ID every time you vote in person. Any one of these works:

• A Georgia driver’s license — even if expired
• Any valid state or federal government photo ID, including a free Georgia Voter ID card
• Photo ID from a Georgia public college or university
• Employee photo ID from the U.S., Georgia, or a Georgia county or city government
• U.S. passport
• U.S. military photo ID
• Tribal photo ID

You are not turned away. Cast a provisional ballot, then bring an acceptable ID to your county elections office within three days after Election Day — by Friday, November 6 — and your ballot counts.

No photo ID at all? Get a free Georgia Voter ID card at your county registrar’s office or any Department of Driver Services office. Bring a document with your full legal name and date of birth, proof you are registered, and a document with your name and home address.

Registration for November 3, 2026 closes Monday, October 5, 2026. The same deadline covers changing your address. There is no same-day registration.

Online through the Secretary of State’s voter registration site — you need a valid Georgia driver’s license or state ID. By mail, download the application, sign it, and mail it to your county elections office before the deadline.

Register at your county elections office. Fulton County has four: the Elections Hub and Operations Center (5600 Campbellton Fairburn Road, Union City), the Government Center downtown, the North Fulton Service Center (7741 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs), and the South Fulton Service Center (5600 Stonewall Tell Road, College Park). DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections is at 4380 Memorial Drive, Decatur.

Registrations get flagged for old addresses and returned mail. If you moved, changed your name, or have not voted in a while, look yourself up on My Voter Page — it also shows your Election Day polling place and your sample ballot.

Georgia is an open primary state: you do not register with a party. In a primary you choose a Republican, Democratic or nonpartisan ballot, and if you pick a party ballot you get the same party’s ballot in that primary’s runoff. The November 3 general election is open to every registered voter. If no one wins a majority in a November race, the top two meet in a runoff on Tuesday, December 1, 2026.

Tuesday, October 13 through Friday, October 30, 2026, plus the required Saturdays, October 17 and 24. Counties may also open on Sundays, October 18 and 25. DeKalb hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Fulton has not posted its November hours yet — for its 2026 primary and runoff it ran 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at your assigned polling place — on Election Day you must vote in your own precinct, not at any site. Look it up first; it can change. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you get to vote.

Any registered Georgia voter can vote absentee — no excuse needed. Request your ballot online or on paper from August 17 through Friday, October 23, 2026; you will need your Georgia driver’s license or state ID number, or a copy of another acceptable ID. Counties start mailing ballots October 5. Your completed ballot must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Drop boxes are only inside designated early voting sites during voting hours, and you cannot turn in an absentee ballot at your Election Day polling place. If there is a problem with your signature or information, you have until November 6 to fix it.

Dates change every cycle. Confirm against the official calendar before you plan around anything printed here.

During early voting you can use any early voting site in the county where you are registered. On Election Day you vote only at your assigned polling place, which My Voter Page shows along with your sample ballot. Atlanta sits in two counties, so check which one you live in.

DeKalb County posted its November 3, 2026 early voting sites on September 16 — 22 in all. Twelve spread across the county (a star marks a site with an absentee drop box):

Fulton County has not posted its November sites yet. These twelve were early voting sites in its most recent countywide election, the June 16, 2026 runoff, and most are regular sites — confirm on My Voter Page or the county site before you go (★ had a drop box):

Fulton County Registration & Elections: 404-612-7020 (absentee 404-612-7060). DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections: 404-298-4020, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Live in Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton or another county? Find your office through the Secretary of State’s county election office finder.

Every polling place has accessible voting equipment and poll workers who can help. If you have a disability or trouble reading the ballot, you may bring someone to help you vote, as long as it is not your employer or union representative.

Your ballot depends on your address: congressional district, state senate and house districts, county commission district, school district and city. For November 2026 an Atlanta ballot includes Governor and the other statewide offices, a U.S. Senate seat, U.S. House, the General Assembly, two Public Service Commission seats, and three statewide constitutional amendments. Fulton voters also see the County Commission Chair race, a special election for Commission District 4, and ESPLOST and TSPLOST sales tax questions. Sample ballots are posted on My Voter Page starting September 19.

Most people know the mayor and the president. The offices in between decide your property tax, your transit and roads, who prosecutes cases, and who runs your schools. Atlanta Politics names the person in every seat.

Not on the November 2026 ballot. Atlanta elected its mayor, City Council and school board in November 2025. The Mayor (Andre Dickens, second term began January 2026) runs city government and proposes the budget. The City Council — a president (Marci Collier Overstreet), 12 district members and 3 at-large posts — passes ordinances and approves the budget. Four-year terms.

Fulton: the Commission Chair (Robb Pitts, who lost the June 2026 Democratic runoff to Mo Ivory; the seat is on this ballot) leads a seven-member Board of Commissioners that sets the county budget and millage rate — Bridget Thorne (District 1), Bob Ellis (2), Dana Barrett (3), District 4 vacant since March 2026 with a special election on this ballot, Marvin S. Arrington Jr. (5), Khadijah Abdur-Rahman (6). Countywide you also elect the District Attorney (Fani T. Willis), Sheriff (Patrick Labat), Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts (Ché Alexander) and Tax Commissioner (Arthur E. Ferdinand).

DeKalb: the Chief Executive Officer (Lorraine Cochran-Johnson) runs the county alongside a seven-member Board of Commissioners. You also elect the District Attorney (Sherry Boston), Sheriff (Melody M. Maddox), Solicitor-General (Donna Coleman-Stribling), Clerk of Superior Court (Debra E. DeBerry) and Tax Commissioner (Nicole M. Golden).

Georgia elects its Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges, and superior and state court judges in nonpartisan races, usually on the May primary ballot, for four- or six-year terms. One of this November’s constitutional amendments asks whether probate judges should also be elected in nonpartisan races.

Governor is an open seat — Brian Kemp is term-limited. The nominees are Keisha Lance Bottoms (Democrat) and Rick Jackson (Republican). Also on the ballot: Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, School Superintendent, and the Agriculture, Insurance and Labor Commissioners; Public Service Commission Districts 3 and 5 (statewide); and all 56 State Senate and 180 State House seats.

One U.S. Senate seat is up: Jon Ossoff (Democrat) faces Mike Collins (Republican). Raphael Warnock’s seat is not on this ballot. Every U.S. House seat is up; Atlanta voters are in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th or 13th District depending on where they live. Senators serve six-year terms; House members serve two.

Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division (sos.ga.gov, 404-656-2871) — My Voter Page, absentee requests, the official calendar.

Fulton County Registration & Elections (404-612-7020) and DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections (404-298-4020) — early voting sites, absentee ballots, free voter IDs.

League of Women Voters of Atlanta-Fulton County — nonpartisan voter guide with candidate answers in their own words (vote411.org).

VoteRiders — free help getting the ID or documents you need to vote.

Election Protection — a nonpartisan hotline if you are turned away or your ballot is challenged: 866-OUR-VOTE.

Reading list, all at the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library: Give Us the Ballot (Ari Berman), One Person, No Vote (Carol Anderson), Bending Toward Justice (Gary May), The Voting Booth (Brandy Colbert), and Thick (Tressie McMillan Cottom).

Verified September 2026 against the Georgia Secretary of State 2026 elections calendar, Fulton County Registration & Elections and DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections. Dates and officeholders change — the official links above always win.