Just after 3 p.m. on the third Tuesday of May, Lamont Hart began his shift outside a suburban Atlanta precinct as a scorching Georgia sun reflected heat off the white-bricked Worship with Wonders Church. Tall, thin, wearing a backward flat cap and holding a notebook, Hart introduced himself to exiting voters and asked whether they’d had any issues casting their ballots.
Davante Jennings sat out two historic election cycles in Georgia before realizing his cynicism was self-defeating. He's now 27 years old, works for a state lawmaker and volunteers for a not-for-profit organization that tries to coax disillusioned voters off the sidelines.
Hundreds of canvassers have spread out across Atlanta in hopes of convincing more than 70,000 residents to sign onto a petition that activists believe is their best chance to halt the planned construction of a huge police and firefighter training center.
Nonprofit organizations in Georgia are digging deep to ramp up their operations again after Election Day to inform voters about the closely watched runoff race for one of the state's Senate seats. Kendra Cotton, CEO of New Georgia Project, says many of the voters they are targeting don't know there is a runoff.
Voters in Georgia, Texas and some other states are facing new hurdles to cast a ballot during the midterm election under laws passed by Republican-led legislatures following President Donald Trump's false claims that voter fraud cost him re-election in 2020. The restrictions have prompted groups that assist voters to reorient themselves so they can avoid running afoul of new barriers.
Amid criticism of other voting changes, few noticed in 2021 when Georgia lawmakers shortened the period between an election and a runoff from nine weeks to four weeks. But the change is leaving less time to vote early before the state's June 21 runoff.
The New Georgia Project has registered nearly half a million voters since 2014. Former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams founded the organization, and is credited with helping turn Georgia blue for the first time since 1992.
