A number of factors suggest low turnout in Atlanta school board elections

Gillespie emphasized that low voter turnout in an election like this is unsurprising — 2023 is already an off-cycle election year. 

“Part of the issue is you can’t go on autopilot,” she said. “You should never go on autopilot for an election, but especially if an election is being held at an odd time of year or a time of year where people are not necessarily thinking of elections.”

“The Atlanta School Board has never been the topic to drive people to the polls,” said at-large City Councilman Matt Westmoreland, who served on the school board from 2013 to 2017. “Turnout is, as we all thought it would be, unbelievably low.”

At the end of early voting on Friday, the turnout in Fulton and Dekalb counties was about half of what it was in 2021, another off-cycle election year. 

The Atlanta Board of Education is the only decision on this year’s ballot. But even then, only five of the board’s nine seats are up for vote. The school board passed legislation in 2020 to stagger board terms, making it easier to maintain continuity. This is the first school board election with the rule change. 

Westmoreland said that these factors, in sum, have made it less likely for Atlanta residents to show up on Election Day. 

Despite such low enthusiasm, however, the board still carries a lot of power. 

They wield an almost $1.7 billion budget, over twice that of the City of Atlanta. Most of that money comes from local residents; over half of property taxes in the city go to the school board. 

That is just one of the reasons that some residents say this election should matter to everyone. 

Max Anderson is one of those people. He’s 27 and runs Drugstore Vintage, a clothing shop in Little Five Points. 

“Especially if you don’t have kids of your own, it’s easy to be like, ‘Yeah whatever, school board, I don’t care,’” Anderson said in his store, surrounded by the eclectic trappings of his neatly curated brick and mortar: a boxy Panasonic TV running old western movies, Roy Lichtenstein pop art, and a small clock that read “Legalize Skateboarding” on its face among them. 

“One of those kids is going to be your doctor one day when you’re like 65 or 80,” he continued. “It impacts you whether you want it or not.”

Anderson added that paying attention to what happens on the school board is not about him, or any other adult. 

“It’s not the adults, for the most part, that long-term, really suffer from having bad education or, like, mismanaged education,” he said. “The kids are supposed to be learning and preparing themselves for the future.”

Anderson also highlighted the influence of school boards, given recent controversies in Georgia and across the nation over classroom curriculum.

“If no one’s got their eyes on you, then you can kinda do whatever you want,” he continued. “Once something’s done, it’s done. I think, especially in local politics, it seems really easy to do stuff and really hard to undo stuff.”

Anderson recognizes that school board elections are not the most exciting thing in the world, but he says that does not mean folks can or should ignore the race.  

“Brushing your teeth isn’t exciting either, but like, no one’s going to say that that’s not important,” he said. “Gingivitis sucks, no one wants that. You certainly don’t want that rot in your local politics.”

Registered voters can vote in person tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Note of disclosure: Atlanta Public Schools holds WABE’s broadcast license.