Fulton County makes final push to get people registered to vote on deadline day

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Marilyn Washington remembers when she voted for the first time in the mid-1960s.

“Leroy Johnson was running, that was the senator I knew was running,” said Washington.

She was among several residents at the AG Rhodes Nursing Home in Atlanta who were getting their ducks all in a row ahead of this November’s elections.

Washington is applying for an absentee ballot.

“I’m in a nursing home so I don’t get to go vote at the polling place,” she said.

That was the same story for most of the residents at the event. Oct. 10 is the deadline for Georgians to register to vote or get an absentee ballot.

Across the state, a lot of seats are on the line including mayor, city council seats, and school board seats.

“If we don’t get the right local people in then we can’t complain when we don’t have the right federal and state employees in,” said Washington.

Evette Oates said voting is something she’s been doing for a long time, so she had to make sure she participated this year.

“My mom started taking me to the polling place long before you were born, where you had to close the curtain, pull the levers and we would walk there,” said Oates.

“I had to let my house go. So, this right now is my residence. So, I need to get all that changed over, get my ballot,” she said.

Early voting kicks off on Oct. 16 and Election Day is on Nov. 7

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