East Cobb SPLOST Vote as Divided As County

Although a majority of East Cobb voters cast ballots against the latest Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, it was a very slender majority.

Results from Tuesday's referendum in 27 East Cobb precincts -- with only nine polling stations voting "yes" -- reflect the photo-finish nature of the referendum across the county. 

The single-issue special election approved four more years of collecting SPLOST revenues for transportation, recreation, public safety and related capital projects. An estimated of the $492 million to be collected through 2015 will be spent on improvements in East Cobb. 

A total of 11,001 East Cobbers went to the polls, with 5,379 voting in favor and 5,622 voting against. That margin, while a tight 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent, is much wider than the referendum which passed countywide by . 

Based on complete but unofficial results, 42,971 people voted in the election: 21,525 for the SPLOST and 21,446 against.

The election was decided by less than one-fifth of 1 percent of the votes cast, but that’s not close enough to trigger an automatic recount of the results.

Georgia law does not provide for automatic recounts of ballot  questions, no matter how narrow the margin, Cobb Elections Director Janine Eveler said Wednesday.

Those results included 5,642 votes that were cast early in person and 1,007 mail-in absentee ballots. That means 93 absentee ballots that were requested and mailed out were not returned by Tuesday evening’s deadline.

In addition, voters cast 58 provisional ballots. Registrars, who are county employees, must determine by 5 p.m. Friday whether to count those ballots, but while they could make the election even closer, they won’t be enough to reverse the result.

That means the next move belongs to the five-member Board of Elections & Registration, which will meet Monday morning at 8 at the elections office, 736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. 

Eveler said the board may order an investigation if it suspects an error or discrepancy in the tally. Otherwise, the board is expected to certify the results as official that day.

Anyone who was eligible to vote Tuesday may contest the election within five days of certification on the basis of at least one of three grounds listed in Title 21, Chapter 2, Article 13 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated:

• “Misconduct, fraud, or irregularity by any primary or election official or officials sufficient to change or place in doubt the result.”

• “When illegal votes have been received or legal votes rejected at the polls sufficient to change or place in doubt the result.”

• “For any error in counting the votes or declaring the result of the primary or election, if such error would change the result.”

A petition contesting the election must be filed with the clerk of Superior Court.

Regardless of Tuesday’s results, Eveler said the election went smoothly. “It was a very successful night for us.”

Rob Garcia, one of the five members of the Cobb election board, said Wednesday evening that he expects the board to certify the election according to the law.

Garcia noted that state law does not call for an automatic recall and the number of provisional votes, even if all were cast “No,” would not exceed the total margin between the votes.

“There is no need to go through the cost and expense and hassle of a recount,” Garcia said. “I was there until midnight and there were no irregularities … everything was done perfectly.”

 -- Marietta Patch editor Phil Taylor contributed to this story.

HOW EAST COBB VOTED (ZIP CODES 30062, 30067, 30068):