Voters across Georgia went to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to pay an extra penny on the dollar to fund transportation projects. And they said no. In droves.
With most results in late Tuesday, the measures appeared doomed in North Georgia.
With all 12 counties in the Northeast Georgia District reporting, the measured lost 64.7%-35.3%.
In the Georgia Mountains District, the measure was losing by a spread of 75%-25% with 12 of 13 counties reporting.
In the 10-county Atlanta Regional District, the measure was failing by a 63%-37% margin with six of the counties fully reported. The biggest counties - Fulton and DeKalb - had turned in most of their tallies by late Tuesday night and the sales tax was losing by a narrow margin in both counties.
Backers of the tax vowed that they wouldn't give up their efforts to address the region's transportation woes.
“It is critical now that we listen to the concerns of those who voted ‘no’ on the referendum to determine how best to build a strong regional system," said Jim Stokes, executive director of the Livable Communities Coalition, in a prepared statement.
"We are turning our efforts toward convening a broad collation to work to find common ground on such issues such as preferred transit projects and transit governance."
The statement said passage of the sales tax would have been "a watershed moment for transit in metro Atlanta."
“Many regions around the country are getting transit right. I am convinced the Atlanta region will join them,” he said.
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