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The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and opposition to it have seen the city delve into possibly unprecedented waters. Since the vote to approve the Center several months ago, opponents immediately began seeking other methods to block construction – and even going back to when former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms originally signed the ordinance allowing for the lease of the property to the training center. Legal challenges proved fruitless but opponents settled on the idea of a referendum, using the argument of “democracy” as their foundation.

To get the referendum on the ballot, opponents of the facility need to collect at least 15% of registered voters in Atlanta. That adds up to about 70,000 voters, all of whom must have been registered to vote in the city in 2021.  

As of Monday, signature collectors say that they have nearly 80,000 signatures and are planning to submit them to the City of Atlanta clerk next Monday, Aug. 21. That is a week later than the original deadline but within the deadline after a judge ruled for a delay based on uncertainty around the rules for signers.

“Acceding to the City’s demand that all previously collected signatures be thrown out if Plaintiffs are allowed the full 60 days to gather signatures would penalize both the persons who made the effort to gather these signatures as well as the City’s residents who chose to sign the previous City-approved petition,” Judge Mark Cohen wrote.

Another wrinkle in the signature saga however is just how those signatures are validated. Atlanta City Council Dustin Hillis – a supporter of the Center – has introduced legislation that hopes to bring clarity to the counting.

Hillis’ legislation would address that by allowing the city to hire outside attorneys to validate the signatures.

The legislation states:  “With no statement or declaration as to the lawfulness or substantive validity of the petition itself, it is the desire of the Atlanta City Council to request that the City Attorney exercise her authority  . . . to engage outside counsel to aid in the verification of any signatures which may be submitted by Petitioners.”

Some number of signatures are always rejected in referendum attempts. Maybe a signer forgets that they were not registered to vote in the timeframe required, maybe some information is wrong, or maybe there is some other detail that causes it to be thrown out. The way to combat this is to collect some percent of signatures above and beyond what is required for the referendum initiative to quality for the ballot. Those 80,000 signatures that Center opponents say they have may just be enough.

George Chidi – independent journalist, local Fox affiliate pundit and close Atlanta political observer, is a supporter of the referendum action and commented Monday on the success of the signature gathering. “They cleared the signature count threshold by the original count date. If the city tries to keep this referendum off the ballot with this result, it will throw away any pretense of respect for the democratic process. This is the best grassroots politics I’ve ever seen.” Whether you support or oppose the Center, it is impossible to ignore that opponents are organized and energized.