Early voting begins Monday for metro municipal, county elections in north Georgia

ROSWELL, Ga. — Early voting begins today for local and county races across Georgia. Races are underway for mayors, city council members and school boards.

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims reported live outside the East Roswell Library polling place, one of 14 early-voting locations in Fulton County, on Channel 2 Action News at Noon.

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The first person to vote at the library was a candidate for the Roswell city council, Jason Miller. He votes early, and in person, every election year.

“And I wanted to make sure I get my vote cast early,” he said. “Last year I waited until the last day of early voting, and that was quite the wait, so I wanted to go ahead and get that knocked out first thing this morning.”

In Roswell, nine city council members are on the ballot. Brad Tennant also wanted to be among the first voters.

“We’ve met all the candidates for city council in Roswell. We’ve talked to each one of them,” he said. “So we’re gonna be very informed on how we vote today.”

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He had no line to stand in and was finished in a few minutes. Tennant knows municipal and county races don’t generate as much enthusiasm as state and national elections. Turnout is generally lower. But he thinks that should change.

“I don’t believe that people think that local elections matter, that there’s not a major impact that national elections would have,” he said. “But yet, it’s from the grassroots of local elections that everything moves upward.”

Penny Thomas was another first-day voter. She calls it her “civic duty” and implores others to vote in local elections.

“I’m not sure why people don’t come out and do it, because everything starts at the local level,” she said.

There 14 early-voting locations in Fulton County are open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. Early voting goes until Friday, Nov. 3.

You can see what early voting locations are open in your county by checking the Georgia Secretary of State’s website here.

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