Special Edition Sunday — Nov. 3, 2024
Good morning! It’s a loaded, special edition in time for the Tuesday General Election Day. You have come to trust The Current for our nonpartisan political reporting about Coastal Georgia. On Election Day, here’s how we will stay true to this mission and provide you trustworthy, factual news. And there’s more, including the quiz!
Nov. 5: During the day
Our seven-person local reporting team will spread across Coastal Georgia, and while we are hoping for a safe and secure voting day, we will be prepared to bring you updates of problems. If you see something of concern at the polls, reach out to our team — staff@thecurrentga.org — so we can confirm facts and quickly help inform you about what’s true — and what might be disinformation.
Nov. 5: Through the night
After voting ends at 7 p.m. Tuesday, we will publish real-time local and national updates from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and our partners at The Associated Press.
Our election dashboard will focus on the U.S. presidential race with electoral college and Congressional counts, along with our Georgia state house and senate seats. So book our homepage for real-time news on election night.
Meanwhile, our reporters will focus on our local district attorney, sheriffs and county commissioners races.
Unlike national media who are interested in Georgia for brief moments, The Current will stay on our local stories next week, and beyond, analyzing voting data and exit polls to help us all understand how Georgians made their choices and how these decisions will affect our futures.
Election stories you may have missed
For those of our neighbors who have already cast a ballot, congratulations! If you are still waiting, you have two options. Early voting ended Friday at 5 p.m. in many counties, and 7 p.m. in a few locations. On Nov. 5, voting precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If you need more information about Coastal Georgia ballots, races, campaigns or our state ballot questions, check out our election guide here.
If you have missed our local election stories, here is some of our latest reporting:
- Race for Chatham County Commission chair Chatham County is blessed with booming economic development. The men vying to lead Georgia’s fifth-largest county offer different visions of managing that growth.
- Attack ads fly in final days of Chatham district attorney, sheriff races In the frenetic weeks leading up to Tuesday’s general election, outside political action committees have spent approximately a quarter of a million dollars on two of Chatham County’s most closely-watched races.
- Missing ballots — or just disinformation — in Liberty County Earlier in October, misinformation moved quickly about stolen ballots, a lesson about how rumors can undermine faith in local democracy. The Current helped debunk the rumor.
- As Nov. 5 approaches, a scramble for votes in Glynn County Glynn County is a reliable Republican spot in Georgia. But in a presidential race where every vote matters, Democrats and Republicans alike, including a group called MAGA Black Georgia, have stumped for support.
- Waycross man dedicates barbershop to Trump Drive into Waycross on U.S. 84 just off U.S. 1 and you’ll find a barbershop dedicated to one of America’s most polarizing political figures. The Trump Barbershop wasn’t always called that. But after the 2020 election the owner decided to exercise his First Amendment rights in the form of a political poke in the eye.
- Coastal Navigator, The Current’s political podcast, investigates a mass voter registration challenge in Bryan County — and how state election law has caused confusion and outrage ahead of the 2024 election.
Election week quiz
It’s a special week ahead, but we’re hoping you’re caught up on the week that was for today’s quiz. Test your news knowledge with a few short questions related to stories we published recently. Below you’ll find our leaderboard with the top scores from the previous week, and the overall leaderboard, which tracks scores over time.
Leaderboard Oct. 27, 2024
First Place (10/10): Kaspar, EMF33
Second Place (8/10): Shots, SadieT, SG Mark, Paul
Third Place (6/10): Rodoe6, BBC, Laurie
Overall Leaderboard:
First Place: SG Mark, Shots
Second Place: EMF33
Third Place: Laurie, BBC
Make sure you compete every week and leave your nickname for a chance to win an exclusive prize from The Current!
FACT CHECKS: ELECTIONS
☕ Your second cup: The need to believe
We recognize how hard it can be to pull actual fact from a swirl of information, but it’s what we do. And we firmly believe that more well-researched, credible information equips us all to face our challenges. Here’s research from a team at the University of Washington compiling what they’ve learned about quickly identifying emerging rumors that can become perceived as fact. In that spirit, we’ve also updated our list of timely fact-check sites with professional staffs to check and debunk all sorts of claims as they pop up — a game of Whack-A-Mole for claims and rumors. Whether you are looking for a specific point to verify or not, these sites provide interesting reading on more than politics. Enjoy.
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Fact check: Election lies to lay groundwork for challenging 2024 results
Trump has refused to say, repeatedly, whether he will accept the results regardless of the outcome. And he’s claimed cheating is already underway, citing debunked claims or outrageous theories with no basis in reality.
Election skeptics target voting officials with ads that suggest they don’t have to certify results
The group, Follow the Law, has placed ads in news outlets serving attorneys, judges and election administrators — individuals who could be involved in election disputes.
FBI links video falsely depicting voter fraud in Georgia to ‘Russian influence actors’
The announcement that the video was fake represented an effort by the FBI and other federal agencies, four days before Tuesday’s elections, to combat foreign disinformation by calling it out rather than letting it spread for days unchecked.
Georgia county says more than 3,000 absentee ballots being mailed late just days before election
A judge ruled Friday that Cobb County voters receiving their absentee ballots late can return them by Nov. 8, three days after Election Day, as long as they’re postmarked by Tuesday.
Lawyers are allowed into Giuliani’s NYC apartment after he misses a deadline for turning over assets
A judge ordered Giuliani last week to give election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, many of his prized possessions after he was found to have defamed them.
Sapelo residents file to put zoning ordinance on hold
Gullah Geechee residents, descendants of enslaved West Africans, fear the resulting gentrification and higher taxes that come with it will force them from their ancestral land. County commissioners say the decision will bring in more property taxes.
Waycross man dedicates barbershop to Trump
Barber changed name of shop in anger over possibility that city might remove Confederate statue.
Q&A: Chatham County Commission Dist. 7 candidates
Chatham County Commission District 7 candidates have chance to answer identical questions.
Attack ads fly in final days of Chatham district attorney, sheriff races
Outside political action committees pay quarter of a million to influence Chatham County sheriff and district attorney races ahead of November 5 election.
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