Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 4, 2026

On August 4, 1753, George Washington became a Master Mason at the Masonic Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank, her family, and two others were found by Nazis in a sealed area in an Amsterdam warehouse. They were sent first to a concentration camp in Holland, then most were sent to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister Margot died from Typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March of 1945.

On August 4, 1958, a wagon train left Dahlonega, headed to Atlanta to pay tribute to the mighty General Assembly deliver 43 ounces of gold to be used to coat the dome of the State Capitol. At the current price of $3,368.50 per ounce, that would be worth $144,845.50.

On August 4, 1993, Nolan Ryan, the greatest middleweight fighter pitcher in major league baseball history, hit Chicago White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura, and Ventura charged the mound.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Athens-Clarke County is hiring poll workers for the November elections, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The November General Election is about three months away, but Athens-Clarke County is preparing by seeking poll workers.

Election Day is Nov. 3, while Dec. 1 has been set as the date for any runoff elections.

ACC reported the poll workers are positions that pay $15.60 an hour. Those applying must be U.S. citizens, reside in Athens-Clarke County, be able to read and write, and be at least 16 years old. Other requirements for the position may be obtained at accgov.com/10102/Poll-Worker-Information.

Advanced voting for the General Election is set for Oct. 13-30. Working for at least one of those dates during advanced voting is encouraged, but not required, according to ACC.

To apply online between now and Aug. 23, visit accgov.com/pollworker.

The Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission overruled an Administrative Law Judge’s findings, according to the AJC.

The State Ethics Commission on Monday overruled an administrative law judge who found that two Republican groups with ties to the defunct First Liberty Building & Loan did not violate campaign finance laws.

The commission now appears poised to rule next month that the Georgia Republican Assembly and its affiliated political action committee failed to property disclose more than $187,000 in spending to support numerous candidates in recent years. The groups also are charged with failing to register as an independent committee and failing to file required disclosure reports.

If it finds the groups violated state law, the commission also will determine what penalties they should pay. In recent court documents, the commission sought $45,000 in civil penalties for the alleged violations.

Monday’s decision is the latest twist in a case that stems from last year’s collapse of First Liberty. Federal authorities say First Liberty founder Brant Frost IV ran a $140 million Ponzi scheme, funneling investors’ money into family vacations, political contributions and other personal uses.

The GRA PAC, chaired by Frost’s son, Brant Frost V, received about $162,000 in Frost family money, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found.

In May, the case went to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Dominic Capraro. These judges preside over disputes between people and state agencies. Sometimes their rulings are final. But in some cases, the rulings act as recommendations to a state agency.

In a preliminary ruling last month, the judge found that neither group had violated state law. He said the GRA and its PAC did not meet the state’s definition of an independent committee.

Under state law, the ethics commission was not bound by the judge’s ruling. On Monday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Young argued the judge got it wrong. If left unchallenged, she said the ruling would clear the way for other groups to avoid fully reporting their expenditures and would create “an open season for dark money in the state of Georgia.”

Fulton County governments are seeking a temporary property tax collection order, according to the AJC.

Fulton County school district and government officials will ask a superior court judge Tuesday to approve a temporary tax collection order because of a delay in certifying this year’s property tax digest. Officials say they need the order to collect tax revenue on time and pay bills, including employee and teacher salaries.

“There was a higher number than normal of land packages that were not processed, which is why we find ourselves in this situation,” said Commissioner Dana Barrett, who represents Buckhead and parts of Sandy Springs and Midtown.

The Fulton County board of assessors determines property values. Then the tax commissioner’s office certifies the digest, and municipalities set their millage rates. The delay could postpone tax collections, which is why officials are hopeful the judge will grant the order.

Fulton County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney called the delay “unconscionable” during a school board meeting last week.

“Sixty percent of this (school) board’s budget comes from local taxes, and we don’t know what that number is,” Looney said. “It’s impossible to run a billion-dollar organization without having 60% of your revenue solidified.”

Looney said the district is prepared to take out a loan to pay its bills, including teachers’ salaries, if the judge denies the order.

“I’m just dismayed,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that the tax assessor and tax commissioner are in disagreement about … whether their figures are accurate or complete. I apologize to our taxpayers and to our employees for this time of uncertainty.”

A Clayton County water system issue may be related to suspected cyberattacks, according to the AJC.

Clayton County officials said Monday they experienced a temporary water service disruption last week, which could be part of a string of suspected cyberattacks that have struck municipal water systems across the country.

The news comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that “malicious cyber actors” had hit water utilities in seven states in recent days. Local officials in Minnesota and Michigan have since confirmed their states were affected, but neither Georgia nor federal officials would confirm that Peach State water systems were among the targets.

It was also not immediately clear who was behind the cyberattacks.

Last week, a bulletin disseminated by the Georgia Association for Water Professionals, an industry trade group, to its members said top security agencies including the FBI and the National Security Agency warned that several Georgia water and wastewater utilities disruptions were “due to devices being hacked by operatives affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cyber Electronic Command (CEC).”

The Clayton County Water Authority, which provides water, sewer and stormwater services to more than 250,000 people, said its service disruption occurred on July 27 and only lasted a few hours. The system said in a statement on its website Monday that it took steps to protect public health, including issuing a boil water advisory.

County water officials said they immediately notified and engaged with state and federal law enforcement authorities to ”investigate the incident, restore operations, and secure the affected systems.” Clayton County did not disclose additional details of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation, but said it does not believe customer billing or payment information was compromised.

Meanwhile, the FBI and other federal agencies have warned that hackers are targeting programmable logic controllers, which are used to control pumps and other equipment in water treatment plants. The agency recommends water system operators remove PLCs from “direct internet exposure,” bolster password protections and take other steps to ward off cybercriminals.

Before the House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Local Government Taxation, Funding, and Budgeting, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) raised questions about franchise fees, according to the Moultrie Observer.

The Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) asked the House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on Local Government Taxation, Funding, and Budgeting why cities can charge franchise fees on power bills but counties cannot.

Franchise fees were one of the topics addressed at the July 22 meeting of the study committee.

“This is an issue that was brought to my attention through ACCG and our commissioner in Bartow County and it deals with franchise fees,” said Rep. Mitchell Scoggins.

He said, on every power bill, there was a franchise fee if a resident was a customer of EMC, Georgia Power or anything else other than MEAG Power.

“MEAG constituents do not pay a franchise fee. So, on my bill, it says, municipal franchise fees,” he said.

Scoggins said he lives 17 miles from the city, in the county, so he couldn’t figure out why he was receiving a franchise fee where the fee went to the municipality and the county didn’t get any of the fee.

Deputy Director of ACCG Clint Mueller said, in regards to franchise fees, state law dictated how they worked.

“Counties can’t leverage a franchise fee. Why? Because state law doesn’t say that they can levy a franchise fee,” he said. “That authority was given to cities. It was not given to counties.”

Mueller said the fees were, basically, another revenue source for cities. He also said he knew the committee would hear that franchise fees were for compensation for the rental of the right way for the utilities that were on the rights of way.

“That may be the case. That may be what’s stated in state law,” Mueller said. “The reality is it’s a general revenue source. It goes into the general fund and can be used for anything.”

He then said cities had franchise fees that went beyond electric.

“We’re talking natural gas, electric, telephone, water and sewer. There’s a lot of of them,” he said. “The only one that counties can collect is TV cable franchise fees.”

Mueller asked, if it was a fee, why wasn’t it restricted to whatever it was designed for?

“Well, it’s not. And even the amount of utilities that are on the right of way, there’s no tie to that,” he said, answering his own question. “It’s based on gross receipts. It’s not tied to how much infrastructure a utility has on a government’s right of way.”

He said state and county governments had the bulk of the transportation right of way in the State of Georgia. He added that counties had about 80%, the State had another 10% to 15% and the cities had the rest.

More than a million Georgia students could lose free school lunches due to federal cuts, according to Atlanta News First via WTVM.

A federal budget law is threatening to strip free school lunches from more than one million Georgia children, forcing families to brace for unexpected annual meal bills.

Rachel Kent, a single mother whose 15-year-old son, Sterling, just started the tenth grade, is living with the heavy reality of trying to make ends meet in an increasingly expensive world.

“Myself, I’m struggling,” Kent said. “I’m a single mother to a 15-and-a-half-year-old. He eats like a vacuum. I’m applying for jobs constantly, and there’s just nothing coming back to me.”

Kent relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to keep Sterling fed. However, a year-old federal law called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” tightened work requirements and added paperwork, slashing food assistance.

Advocacy groups say these cuts are creating a direct domino effect inside school cafeterias across Georgia. Under a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), any school where at least 25% of students are automatically enrolled in SNAP or Medicaid can provide free breakfast and lunch to every single student—no paperwork required.

But as SNAP enrollment drops, entire schools are at risk of falling below that threshold.

If a school loses its status and families are kicked off SNAP, parents must apply for free lunch manually. If they do not qualify, a Georgia family with two children faces an estimated median annual cost of $1,134 for school lunches.

While some districts have locked in their free-meals-for-all status through 2028, child advocates warn of a slow-moving, statewide crisis once those agreements expire.

“That’s not something we’re going to see overnight,” said Carolyn Vega with No Kid Hungry. “That’s something that’s going to slowly happen over time, that we’ll see schools likely lose access and see kids lose access to school meals.”

If students are no longer directly certified through SNAP, families must submit an income-based application to keep their children from falling through the cracks.

The City of South Fulton has adopted a municipal anthem created by AI, according to GPB News.

South Fulton officials are undertaking a rebrand to help change the city’s image after years of tension between the previous mayor and the city council.

One of the ways they’re doing it is with a song, or city anthem, meant to inspire the local community.

However, it just so happens to be AI-generated.

Westlake High School band director Cedric Young is the creator of South Fulton’s “Hey Twin, We Rise” song. It comes as South Fulton celebrates its ninth anniversary as a city this year.

Young’s inspiration was fueled after hearing Mayor Carmalitha Gumbs’ moving State of the City address earlier this year.

“I noticed that she talked about the city rising, and I said, ‘Well, let me do something.’ I guess the voice of god was speaking to me,” he said.

The song’s lyrics are overall positive affirmations that feature some Atlanta slang like “Hey Twin,” which the South Fulton police department has adopted to connect with the city’s youth via a viral social media campaign.

“Hey Twin, We Rise” came at just the right time, according to Gumbs. She says she got emotional the first time she heard it, as she hopes to rebuild public trust in the city’s elected officials.

“When I heard it, I literally almost cried, and I was just like, this is it. I wanted to find something to really just start building community pride and really boosting the city of South Fulton, and this song was it. It was what we needed at that time,” Gumbs said.

Gumbs received the song well and even called for a music video to highlight various parts of South Fulton and its residents, which dropped in mid-June. It also features the Westlake High School band and the Zion Hill Baptist Church choir, plus 18-year-old Kenaniah Turner as the “vocalist.”

The song is AI-generated, which Turner says made him uncomfortable.

“This opportunity is something that I will only do one time. Can AI be used as a tool? Yes, but I think with art specifically, AI has no place,” Turner said.

“Hey Twin, We Rise” was created using the Suno Studio AI music generator, according to Young. He says the completely AI production was the result of playing around with some ideas using the software.

The Savannah Police Department (SPD) and Chatham County Police Department (CCPD) turned school speed cameras back on, according to the Savannah Morning News.

SPD reactivated its school zone speed cameras Monday, Aug. 3, issuing warnings for the first two weeks before citations begin Aug. 17. The cameras will be active 45 minutes before school begins, remain operational throughout the school day and deactivate 30 minutes after dismissal.

CCPD initially said last week that its school zone speed cameras would not be operational at the start of the school year while the department worked to comply with new requirements under Georgia House Bill 651, which took effect July 1. However, the department later clarified that both of its school zone speed cameras will remain operational for the upcoming school year.

CCPD Chief Jeff Hadley said school zone speed cameras have reduced overall speeding in its school zones by 96%. “We value them as a crucial safety device. New state laws require us to re-license the cameras through the Georgia Department of Transportation, and that multi-step process will take time.”

The now reversed temporary suspension stems from changes lawmakers made to school zone speed camera programs earlier this year. HB651 added new requirements for school zone speed camera programs across the state, including clearer warning signs, regular camera accuracy testing and a formal complaint process. The law also requires local governments to obtain voter approval before continuing to operate school zone speed cameras, with existing programs required to go before voters by July 1, 2027.

Additionally, each school zone speed camera must be relicensed by the local municipality where it is located, giving local governments the opportunity to decide whether to continue using the technology.

Chatham County Police say they intend to resume using the cameras once the relicensing process is complete. CCPD began using school zone speed cameras during the 2021-22 school year at eight school locations throughout unincorporated Chatham County.

Meanwhile, Savannah’s school zone cameras will begin operating on the first day of school and issue warnings before citations begin Aug. 17.

Under the new law, motorists must be traveling more than 10 mph over the applicable school zone speed limit to receive a citation.

Garden City Police Department turned their school zone speed cameras off, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The Garden City Police Department will no longer use school zone speed cameras after a new Georgia law imposed stricter requirements on how local governments can use the devices.

“For us, there was a decision that it (use of the cameras) was becoming more cumbersome and potentially more complicated than it necessarily needed to be, so we just made the decision to discontinue using that technology,” Garden City PD Lt. Shane Glasco said.

Georgia House Bill 651, which went into effect on July 1, added new requirements for school zone speed camera programs, including clearer warning signs, regular camera accuracy testing and a formal complaint process. The law also requires local governments to obtain voter approval before operating the cameras, with existing programs required to go before voters by July 1, 2027.

The new law requires each school zone speed camera to be relicensed by the local municipality where it is located, giving local governments the opportunity to decide whether to continue using the technology.

Because of this, Glasco said Garden City ceased operations with Blue Line Solutions, the company used for its automated speed enforcement technology, in May 2026.

Instead, [Glasco] said officers, whenever available, will conduct speed checks using lidar (light detection and ranging) and radar remote sensing technology in the school zones.

The technology also places additional demands on the court system, he said, forcing the department to consider whether the time and resources required to handle those cases outweigh the program’s benefits.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson discussed allegations of surveillance camera misuse by Savannah Police offices, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said last week that people cannot expect privacy in public spaces because surveillance cameras are now virtually everywhere.

“On one hand, you can’t say ‘Keep us safe! Do everything it takes to keep us safe. But wait, we don’t want these cameras.’ Public safety comes at a cost,” he said.

Two days later, the Savannah Police Department (SPD) informed him that six employees may have misused the department’s Flock Safety license plate reader (LPR) system — the same surveillance technology Johnson had been defending.

SPD has 103 Flock LPR’s, and it has had over 1.4 million hits since January. During the same period, 39,590 additional searches were made in the Flock system by SPD personnel.

A monthly internal audit of Flock flagged 127 irregular searches made in the system, and four officers and two civilian staff members were identified as potentially misusing the technology.

The law enforcement agency said the six employees allegedly conducted non-law-enforcement related searches, including searches focused on personal acquaintances and family members. The alleged misuses also include an instance of one officer providing access to the SPD Flock system to an outside law enforcement agency personnel.

“I think people have that right to believe that we are protecting their information like we expect our doctors to protect our health information,” Johnson said at a Monday morning press conference.

“The growing pain is how quickly technology is outpacing some of the governance and accountability policies that law enforcement agencies have to deal with their use,” Savannah City Manager Jay Melder said on Monday.

SPD Chief of Police Lenny Gunther and Assistant Chief Robert Gavin said at the press conference that approximately 300 SPD employees have access to the Flock database.

From WTOC:

“To be honest I’m disappointed, I’m totally pissed off about it,” Johnson said.

Johnson pointed to last week’s Fellwood Park shooting as an example of the technology’s value, saying Flock cameras helped officers apprehend suspects in the case.

“Without that you have 17, 18, 19 year olds with guns out here on these streets,” Johnson said. “The difference is you have 5 individuals in custody.”

City Manager Jay Melder acknowledged the damage to public trust.

“It doesn’t help that conversation when members of our team breach that public trust, whether it’s a big breach or a small knucklehead breach,” Melder said.

Johnson said the benefits of the technology outweigh the actions of a few.

“Given the sheer numbers of this, the benefit to the technology, leveraging the technology, far outweigh the few individuals who did not make the right choices,” Johnson said.

Chief Gunther said he is working to add a formal policy governing Flock camera usage. The audit-assist tool will also conduct weekly inspections going forward to identify potential misuse earlier.

The names and positions of each employee involved have not been released. The outside organization that received unauthorized access to an SPD Flock account has also not been identified.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating alleged misuse of Flock surveillance cameras, according to 13WMAZ.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is looking into three allegations of misuse that were flagged by the department’s Flock camera system, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office says a monthly internal audit uncovered three possible violations in the system.

“The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has established comprehensive internal policies, procedures, and accountability measures governing the use of the Flock camera system, including the investigation of any suspected misuse,” officials wrote in the press release. “… The Internal Affairs Unit is conducting a thorough review of each matter to determine whether any policy violations occurred.”

The sheriff’s office said that if the investigation discovers “any misconduct,” they’ll take appropriate administrative or legal action.

As of right now, no deputies have been terminated or placed on administrative leave in connection with these matters, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputies under investigation have been “denied access” to the Flock system.

From 13WMAZ:

The automatic license plate reader system has sparked debate in Macon and across the country over privacy concerns. Julie Rosa Colton with the Middle Georgia Democratic Socialists of America says her group has spoken out against the use of the cameras in Macon to county commissioners and the sheriff.

“This isn’t surprising to me at all,” Colton said. “There’s so much potential for misuse. The fact that it needs to be a lengthy investigation rather than just having been prevented from abuse at all, I think is very emblematic of the fact that there’s so much information, so much potential for abuse in these systems that just simply does not need to exist.”

Colton and Middle Georgia DSA have raised concerns in the past about privacy, data breaches, and potential for misuse of Flock cameras. She says this investigation reinforces her and others’ concerns.

“All that these cameras do is add more risks to Macon residents to abuse from the BCSO,” Colton said.

From the Macon Telegraph:

License plate data in Bibb County is stored for 30 days via Flock. The sheriff’s office shares data with other law enforcement agencies but does not share it with the Georgia State Patrol or any federal agencies, a spokesperson told The Telegraph in response to an inquiry last week.

The Augusta Planning and Development Department will host three public meetings to discuss a proposed data center ordinance, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Augusta’s Planning and Development Department will host three public meetings in August and September to gather community feedback on a proposed Data Center Ordinance.

According to the city, the draft policy framework aims to support responsible growth while promoting the health, safety and welfare of Augusta residents. Officials say the meetings will allow residents, property owners, business owners and other stakeholders to learn about the proposal, ask questions and provide feedback before the ordinance is finalized.

Some Talbot County residents want more transparency on data centers and battery storage, according to WTVM.

Residents appeared before Talbot County commissioners Monday night to demand public disclosure on proposed data centers and battery energy storage systems, saying decisions affecting their neighborhoods have been made without adequate community input.

No one has formally applied for a conditional use license for a data center or battery energy storage system in the county, a commissioner told a reporter after the meeting. Residents said that has not stopped them from attending public meetings and pressing leaders for answers.

Stephen Acorn, an independent candidate for House District 137 who lives in Midland, said the planning process for data center projects has lacked transparency and that residents near proposed sites in Talbot, Muscogee and Harris counties have been left out.

“A lot of the information that’s been presented around these data centers… a lot of it has been done behind closed doors,” Acorn said. “A lot of residents were never made aware of it ahead of time… and these are actually just going into the backyards of people’s homes, their homesteads.”

Acorn said he is not opposed to data centers outright but wants them placed in industrial parks rather than near residential areas. He also called for stricter regulations and an end to tax abatements for large technology companies.

“I’m neither anti nor for,” Acorn said. “I just believe it should be a regulated industry and it should be done responsibly… they get these tax abatements, which is corporate welfare, and us hard-working people — we’re left out in the cold while these multi-billion dollar corporations get to benefit off hard-working taxpayers’ money.”

County leaders said no applications for a conditional use license have been filed. Residents said they plan to continue attending public meetings until they receive clear answers about how proposed projects would affect the community.

Augusta Mayor-elect Steven Kendrick named a transition team, according to WRDW.

Kendrick on Monday introduced a coalition of community, business, faith, education, nonprofit, neighborhood and government leaders who will study key issues, gather public input and deliver recommendations for his first 90 days in office and a broader 12-month governing framework.

“This team represents an extraordinary collection of people who care deeply about Augusta and are willing to contribute their time, experience and ideas to our city’s future,” Kendrick said in a news release. “This is not intended to be an honorary committee or an exercise in simply identifying problems. I have asked these members to help us develop realistic recommendations, measurable priorities and a clear path toward implementation.”

The Muscogee County 2026 Citizens’ Government Academy is accepting applications, according to WTVM.

The 2026 Citizens’ Government Academy will be held on each Thursday from Sept. 3 until Nov. 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. According to officials, each session will be held at different Columbus Consolidated Government facilities.

This opportunity gives residents and business owners to connect with city leaders and employees through presentations, discussions, facility tours, and hands-on activities. They will learn about the departments, programs, and services offered to the community.