MARTA Expands Efforts to Encourage Voter Participation

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) will provide all its permanent full-time employees an additional four hours of paid time off to encourage them to vote early or on Election Day. In addition, the agency has partnered with nonprofits to host voter registration events and is running public service announcements to remind metro Atlanta residents to vote.

Beginning in mid-August, MARTA worked with seven local nonprofits, including the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, NAACP Atlanta, and League of Women Voters Atlanta – Fulton, to support voter registration efforts at 14 rail stations throughout the agency’s service area. This nonpartisan effort included National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 22 and continued until Georgia’s voter registration deadline on Oct. 5. Together, the nonprofits registered close to 1,000 people to vote.

Additional MARTA efforts to boost voter participation have included reminders to vote throughout the bus and rail system, with announcements from Atlanta-based rapper Clifford “TI” Harris and former Atlanta Falcon Warrick Dunn. Metro Atlanta residents will see bus headers and MARTA riders will see station signs reminding them to vote early or on Nov. 3. The agency is also providing links to voter information on its website and social media pages.

On Election Day, MARTA will provide additional transportation options for customers through partnerships that will be announced this week.