Gwinnett County’s leaders predict a close MARTA decision

News Headlines March 12, 2019

The question on the ballot:

“Gwinnett County has executed a contract for the provision of transit services, dated as of August 2, 2018. Shall this contract be approved?
 YES NO

 

 

Should the vote be approved, Gwinnett County would apply a 1% sales tax to purchases made in the County similar to those in Fulton and Dekalb. The rail line that currently ends in Doraville would extend into Gwinnett towards Jimmy Carter Blvd and tie into a broader Gwinnett transit system.

The vote is significant not only for transit purposes but as a signal that Gwinnett is moving past it’s historically racial-tinged votes typically cast by those OTP. The last time Gwinnett voted in a MARTA referendum was 1990. It was voted down overwhelmingly by white voters. Prior votes for transit met similar fates. Gwinnett has since grown to be a very diversely populatedarea with no one group representing a majority of the voters.