As Election Day quickly approaches, Georgia residents have come out in record numbers to cast their ballots, and the state leads the nation for early voter turnout.
Over a million people have already voted so far, and around 31% of them are Black. One demographic that has been falling behind during the early voting period, however, is voters under 30.
Capital B Atlanta visited the Atlanta University Center to speak with Black college students — many of whom said reproductive rights and voting rights were top of mind — about what’s driving them to the polls and which candidates they’ll be voting for. These interviews have been edited for clarity and length.
Quincy Butler, 20, Morehouse College
Butler, a junior studying political science, is the co-chair of the AUC Young Democratic Socialists of America. He said the campus organization is putting its support behind DSA candidates this election season.
“We have some candidates, especially here in the AUC, that we can proudly boast to vote for, and that’s Mathewos Samson; he’s running for House District 58, and so he’s definitely one of our endorsements,” Butler said.
As for the governor’s race, which is between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson, he said many members of the group are supporting Bottoms, although he has some concerns about the former Atlanta mayor.
“For the Democrats, we’re always looking for the best option where we can … I think that a lot of people’s consensus is to vote for Keisha Lance Bottoms. However, there are a lot of gripes with her as mayor and her handling of ‘Cop City,’” Butler said. “I think her handling of that makes us all a bit worried about her ability to be influenced by oppressive ideology and taking money from corporate PACs and things like that.”
“The reason that we still favor a vote for her is protecting reproductive health. That’s a major reason that we are still endorsing a vote for her.”
Myana Garrison, 20, Spelman College
Garrison, a junior studying health science, is originally from Baltimore but plans to cast her ballot here in Georgia. She believes her vote will be more impactful, as Bottoms has a chance to become the country’s first Black female governor.
“It’s good to see a Black woman, especially after the loss of Kamala Harris. I think it is very empowering for a Black woman to be leading [the state]. … I think it really will restore faith in our community. I’m really putting a lot of trust and hope into her candidacy and hopefully her run as governor,” she said.
Garrison said students across the AUC are motivated to vote and have recently become politically energized after a protest held this month over the death of Nolan Wells.
“I feel empowered to use my voice, especially after the death of Nolan Wells, and learning that he didn’t even get to exercise his right to vote. That really radicalized me. It really woke me up; like, he died before he was able to get the right to vote,” Garrison said.
“So I think it’s very important and I think that historically the AUC has played a big role in voting and just making change in our community in general.”
Donte Abney, 20, Clark Atlanta University
Abney, a sophomore studying physics, plans to vote by absentee ballot in his home state Maryland because he wasn’t able to register as a Georgia voter in time for this election. He said while he’s never been super vocal about his political opinions in the past, there are a few issues on his mind like racism, sexism, and any other forms of discrimination.
“[This election] the issues I’m looking at [are] reproductive health and the ideas of bodily autonomy that go along with that, [and] also LGBTQ+ rights,” he said.
Abney also said he’s very aware of political propaganda and the role the media plays in elections. He said he is mindful to research candidates on his own and consider what he learns from discussions in class and with his friends before he casts a ballot.
As access to the voting booth is attacked locally and nationally, Abney said he and his fellow AUC students are keen to make their voices heard.
“I must say for the midterms, I’ve seen a lot more young people care about voting rights and pushing back more, which has been really great,” he said.
The students are also very aware of the role their campus played in securing equal status for Black people.
“To think about the marches that MLK did or the SCLC; it makes no sense to me, with all the work that they put in, that [our rights] are possibly going to be rolled back or taken away,” Abney said.
Maya-Starr Ward, 20, Spelman College
Ward, a junior documentary filmmaking major, is a member of her school’s NAACP. Serving on the press committee, she’s had a front-row seat to student-led voter mobilization efforts.
“The political climate [on campus], from what we’ve seen just in the two years since the presidential election, has a lot of people working hard. I feel like even if you may not see big crowds at marches, I know people are going to come out to the polls,” she said.
Growing up in Massachusetts, Ward said she was raised to be politically aware and taught about the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
“It’s terrifying that we’re going like 20 steps back in history,” she said. “But especially since 2024, [I’ve] seen a rise in people realizing that this is serious and [our rights] are not something to take for granted.”
Ward said she always considers how elections will impact communities of color, and this year she’s particularly concerned about reproductive justice.
“I recently studied a documentary called The Devil Is Busy about an abortion clinic in Georgia and how they’ve been slowly decreasing. So that’s one of my big focuses, especially knowing how many people are going to be struggling because of this,” Ward said.
Terianna Telford, 19, Spelman College
Telford is a sophomore political science major on the pre-law track who has already cast her midterm ballot.
“I voted Saturday, and I also did early voting in May. I don’t play about voting and I make sure everyone else votes, too,” she said.
Candidates supporting reproductive rights, addressing domestic violence, and promoting education were key to earning her vote.
Telford said she voted for U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff specifically because of his work on legislation to combat human trafficking. She also became a campus ambassador for Bottoms because of Bottoms’ time as Atlanta mayor.
“I just know how passionate she is about the work she does and how transparent she is,” the Atlanta native said.
With her ballot already cast, Telford is now focused on educating her peers about the election, especially because of the recent attacks on voting rights.
“Historically, gerrymandering and voter suppression has focused on targeting Black communities. Even with the 2024 election, there was a lot of gerrymandering and voter suppression within the Fulton County community, and it just makes me frustrated,” Telford said. “I want people to see that and put it into perspective that they’re trying to do this because our votes matter so much.”
Jaylon Coleman, 20, Morehouse College
Coleman, the president of the Morehouse College Democrats, said that his student group is working to ensure that students vote. They plan to conduct a march to the polls on Oct. 27 and 28.
“I will say that I am super excited about voting. I think that a lot of times the only thing that we can do is complain and try to mobilize, you know. But voting feels very tangible, a very tangible step to make change,” Coleman said. “I’m super excited that other people are excited too. Like, we see a lot of people getting ready to march to the polls with us.”
Coleman, a junior studying political science, said that he plans to vote for Ossoff in the U.S. Senate race and for Bottoms in the governor’s race. One major topic that he said is influencing him to pick these candidates is the attacks on the Voting Rights Act.
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that race-based voting maps are unconstitutional, efforts to redistrict the state’s voting maps were started and then ultimately nixed during the state legislature’s special session this summer.
Coleman said he believes that those efforts will be picked back up again by Republican lawmakers in the near future.
“We have temporary wins in Georgia. You know, we fight every day here. We fight to make sure that these elections, these votes are actually going through, especially in Fulton County, one of the Blackest counties,” he said. “We always have to fight to make sure that our votes are counted, and so just knowing that they’re going to come back and they’re going to try it again, it’s helped to motivate people to get out to vote.”
Early voting in the midterms ends on Oct. 30. So far, Black voters have fueled record turnout during this cycle’s early voting period, according to multiple sources.
Polls are set to open at 7 a.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3.
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