FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2020
MARTA EXPANDS EFFORTS TO ENCOURAGE VOTER PARTICIPATION
ATLANTA – The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) announced today that it will provide all permanent full-time employees an additional four hours of paid time off to encourage its more than 4,000 employees to vote early or on Election Day. In addition, MARTA has partnered with non-profits to host voter registration events and is running public service announcements to remind metro Atlantans to vote. On Election Day, MARTA will provide additional transportation options for customers through partnerships to be announced next week.
“Voter participation is vital to the health of our democracy,” said MARTA General Manager and CEO Jeffrey Parker. “MARTA wants to do all we can to ensure that our employees and customers exercise their right to vote.”
Beginning in mid-August, MARTA worked with seven local non-profits to support voter registration efforts at 14 rail stations throughout our service area. This non-partisan effort included National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 22 and continued until Georgia’s voter registration deadline on Oct. 5. MARTA applauds the work of the following organizations for registering close to 1,000 people to vote: DeKalb National Council of Negro Women, Disability Link, Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, Georgia Stand-Up, League of Women Voters Atlanta – Fulton, NAACP Atlanta and Second Street Associates.
MARTA efforts to encourage voter participation continue with reminders to vote throughout the bus and rail system, including announcements from Atlanta based rapper Clifford “TI” Harris and former Atlanta Falcon Warrick Dunn (samples below). Metro Atlantans will see bus headers and MARTA customers will see station signs reminding them to vote early or on Nov. 3. MARTA is also providing links to voter information on our website and social media pages. A reminder that Fulton County residents may vote early at State Farm Arena. Take the train to GWCC/CNN Station and follow the signs to the arena to cast your vote.
Voting information such as polling locations and wait times, along with a trip planner to map out how you’re getting to the polls can be found at www.itsmarta.com.
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Click here for announcement from Clifford "TI" Harris
Click here for announcement from Falcon Warrick Dunn