Stop Cop City petition organizers surpass signature requirement, continue collection process

A coalition of organizers who want a referendum put on the November ballots allowing voters to decide the fate of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center project said that they reached a milestone by collecting 80,000 petition signatures.

Calling themselves “Vote to Stop Cop City,” organizers tweeted on Aug. 14 that their next goal is to hit 100,000 signatures by Aug. 21.

“We will be submitting our signatures to the city of Atlanta clerk on Aug. 21,” they tweeted. “Thanks to the tireless work of everyone who has pounded the pavement. The number to make the ballot is 58,203 but we need to be ready for whatever the city throws at us. That’s why we’re using our full 60 days (allotted to collect signatures) to leave no doubt that Cop City will be on the ballot.”

By law, the petition must meet certain criteria, including that signatures must come from those who were registered to vote in Atlanta in the 2022 election and must come from current residents of the city of Atlanta.

Detractors of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center project, which is on land located in DeKalb County and owned by the city of Atlanta, shared the news of their progress following two recent victories in court.

On Aug. 14, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen denied a motion to delay implementation of his decision to restart the timeline for opponents to collect signatures in an attempt to force the issue to a referendum of city voters, according to the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cohen also ruled in favor of a group of DeKalb County residents who want to participate in collecting signatures in July.

Since then, organizers have continued their efforts, with an extended timeline, to gather the tens of thousands of signatures necessary to qualify for the referendum process – an effort that Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens recently said he did not believe would be successful.

Once the petition is turned over to the clerk, Atlanta officials will go through the document to verify thousands of signatures.

“Eighty thousand Atlantans have signed the petition to put Cop City on the ballot,” said local filmmaker Nolan Huber-Rhoades. “For context only 78,643 Atlantans voted in the (2021) mayoral runoff. This is a remarkable political moment in Atlanta.”

For more information, visit copcityvote.com.