What Lithonia and Stonecrest voters need to know for the Nov. 3 election

We’ve collected everything you need to vote this November 3 — the state deadlines, DeKalb County early-voting sites and drop boxes, and the Stonecrest City Council District 2 race — so you can cast one ballot that lands where it must and gets counted.

Before you go, the stakes are simple: a ballot that arrives late or gets cast at the wrong address does not count. And the races many voters skip while scanning for the top of the ticket are the ones that decide what gets built in Lithonia and what happens to the quarry and granite-heritage lands that shaped this town.

Georgia statewide rules

• Voter registration for this election closed October 5, 2026. If you were not registered by that date, you cannot vote on November 3.
• If you are registered, check your status, your assigned precinct, and your Georgia House district through Georgia’s My Voter Page before you go.
• To vote absentee, your application must reach the DeKalb County election office by October 23, 2026. Elections offices could begin mailing requested ballots as early as October 5.
• Your completed absentee ballot must be received by the county registrar by 7 p.m. on November 3, 2026. You can return it by U.S. mail, at an authorized drop box, or in person to the registrar.
• The U.S. Postal Service recommends allowing 7 to 10 days for delivery of a completed absentee ballot, so one mailed close to the deadline risks arriving too late to count.
• Georgia requires an accepted form of photo ID to vote. There is no online voting in Georgia.
• Early voting runs October 13 through October 30, 2026. During early voting, you may vote at any designated early-voting location in your county. On Election Day, November 3, you must vote at your assigned precinct.

DeKalb County: Early voting and drop boxes

DeKalb County expanded early voting for this election from 20 locations to 22, and any DeKalb voter may use any of them during the early-voting period.

Early-voting hours:

• October 13–30, 2026
• Weekdays: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.
• Saturdays: 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
• Sundays: noon–6 p.m.

Two additional sites — Living Grace Lutheran Church in Tucker and Wade Walker Park Family YMCA in Stone Mountain — operate weekdays only, October 26–30, 2026.

Lithonia-area early-voting locations include:

• New Bethel A.M.E. Church
• Redan-Trotti Library
• Salem-Panola Library
• Stonecrest Library serves Stonecrest voters

DeKalb County has six absentee ballot drop-box locations, and each is accessible only inside the site during its operating hours.

The six drop-box sites:

• Salem-Panola Library, 5137 Salem Rd., Lithonia
• DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections Office, 4380 Memorial Dr., Suite 500, Decatur
• Berean Christian Church, 2201 Young Rd., Stone Mountain
• Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, 2340 Clifton Springs Rd., Decatur
• Dunwoody Library, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd., Dunwoody
• Tucker Library, 5234 Lavista Rd., Tucker

Because Election Day requires you to vote at your assigned precinct, confirm your polling place through My Voter Page or DeKalbVotes.com before November 3. Showing up at the wrong address means your ballot will not count.

What’s on your city ballot

Lithonia voters will not elect a mayor or City Council member this November: the mayor and two council seats expire in 2027, and three council seats expire in 2030.

Lithonia holds nonpartisan elections for a mayor and five at-large City Council members. The councilmember qualifying fee is $162.

Stonecrest voters do have a city race on November 3: a special election for the District 2 City Council seat to fill the unexpired term of Terry Fye. The mayor’s seat is not on the ballot, because the current term runs through December 31, 2027.

The Stonecrest District Post 2 candidates are:

• Telessa Ammons
• Yuvette Hudson
• Bruce McColumn Sr.

Qualifying for that race ran August 10–14, 2026.

Why these local races matter: Lithonia is a historic quarry town shaped by the granite industry, and locally quarried Tidal Grey granite was used in buildings throughout the Lithonia National Historic District. That heritage is the backdrop for the zoning and development questions on this ballot.

Lithonia’s planning and zoning framework — a zoning map, zoning classifications, permitted-use rules, and a Form Based Code for the Core, Downtown, and Edge districts — is what every land-use decision in this city is built on.

The Stonecrest City Council unanimously approved creation of the Stonecrest/Lithonia Industrial Park Community Improvement District, intended to improve infrastructure, aesthetics, mobility, and investment in the industrial corridor along the city line.

The county and state races that hit closest to home

The DeKalb County Commission District 2 race is between incumbent Democrat and District 2 Commissioner Michelle Long Spears and Republican Ben Pepper. The District 3 race is between Democrat Keyanna Jones Moore and Republican Andrea Smith.

DeKalb’s moratorium on new data-center development remains in effect through March 30, 2027, and the commission rejected a proposed $1.6 billion data-center project earlier this month. On the question of a massive data center near residential neighborhoods, Spears said, “There are concerns related to energy usage, water, the impact to people, the impact to the environment, the sound, the noises that they make.” Moore has campaigned against data-center development.

The commission is scheduled to consider an ordinance on October 13, 2026, defining and classifying data centers in the county zoning code, including a ban on data centers larger than 1 million square feet while the moratorium remains in effect.

The ballot also includes a referendum to renew DeKalb’s one-cent education sales tax, E-SPLOST VII. The renewal is expected to collect up to $1,046,154,324, including no more than $946,773,776 for the DeKalb County School District.

For the Georgia Senate, District 43 incumbent Democrat Tonya Anderson, a former Lithonia mayor, is the only candidate listed for the November 3 general election, with no Republican running.

Lithonia is in Georgia Senate District 43, but the Georgia House district depends on your specific address, so verify it through My Voter Page.

The governor’s race is between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson, competing to succeed term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp. Bottoms has former President Barack Obama’s endorsement; Jackson has endorsements from President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp.

Your checklist between now and November 3

• Confirm your registration and polling place now through Georgia’s My Voter Page. The October 5 registration deadline has passed, and on Election Day you must vote at your assigned precinct.
• If you’re voting absentee, get your application in by October 23 and make sure your completed ballot is received by 7 p.m. on November 3 — by mail (allow 7–10 days), at a drop box, or in person to the registrar.
• Vote early October 13–30 at any of DeKalb’s 22 early-voting sites, or on November 3 at your assigned precinct. Bring an accepted photo ID either way.
• Find the full early-voting and drop-box list at DeKalbVotes.com. Remember, the drop boxes are inside the six sites and only open during their operating hours.

When you step into the booth, the races that touch what gets built around Lithonia — the county commission, E-SPLOST, and Stonecrest District 2 — are the ones to weigh as carefully as the top of the ticket. Your counted ballot is how you shape what happens next on your own street.