DeKalb polls open until 8 p.m. for Atlanta voters

Differences in hours posted might have confused voters.

DeKalb County clarified its voting hours on Wednesday after an Atlanta mayoral candidate and the American Civil Liberties Union warned that voter confusion could reign because city residents who live in DeKalb may see different times for when the polls are open than their counterparts in Fulton County.

The city of Atlanta states polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the Secretary of State’s Office lists hours as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. DeKalb didn’t list Election Day voting hours on its website, but a county official said polls would be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

DeKalb released updated voting hours shortly after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story about potential voter confusion. DeKalb Elections Director Erica Hamilton said the hours for the city of Atlanta precincts in the county were long set at 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., but she declined to comment on why they weren’t posted.

Former City Council President Cathy Woolard said earlier she was troubled that it wasn’t “crystal clear to voters” when they could vote.

“There’s absolutely no excuse for inaccurate or inconsistent information coming out from official sources,” said Woolard, a mayoral candidate whose strongest base of supporters is in east Atlanta.

Fulton officials announced in September that voters would get an additional hour to comply with a state law requiring a city with more than 300,000 people — such as Atlanta — to keep its polls open until 8 p.m.

The Georgia chapter of the ACLU also penned a letter raising an alarm about the discrepancies, saying that closing the polls before 8 p.m. would be “illegal.” It also noted Fulton’s early voting included Sunday hours while DeKalb’s did not.

“We strongly urge DeKalb County to follow Fulton County’s lead in this regard to ensure that all Atlanta citizens are treated equally,” wrote Sean Young, the legal director for the ACLU of Georgia.