Music, dancing and bubbles greeted voters at polling locations across metro Atlanta on Tuesday as Project HALO volunteers worked to make Election Day a community celebration.
The nonpartisan initiative organized activities at polling locations throughout the area, offering signs, snacks and entertainment to create a welcoming atmosphere for voters and their families.
Assata Davis, who has volunteered with Project HALO several times, helped set up signs carrying messages such as "You belong at the polls."
"We are a nonpartisan organization that helps celebrate voting and encourage voters," Davis said. "So we're stationed at different poll stations around Georgia, and we're just a celebratory presence that you see when you pull up to vote."
For Davis, volunteering also offers an opportunity to connect with people she might not otherwise meet.
"It's so exciting to be able to go out and be stationed at a senior center, and you're seeing just people from all different walks of life and ages and backgrounds coming out to vote," she said.
John Painter, another volunteer, used a measuring wheel to mark the 150-foot boundary around a polling location, helping ensure the group's activities remained outside the restricted area.
"I want to make sure it's a good experience for everybody," Painter said. "Kids love it, pick up stuff, and the parents go and vote."
For Susan Marx, who grew up in South Africa, the mission carries special meaning. She witnessed the country's first democratic elections in 1994, when millions of people were able to vote in a national election without racial restrictions for the first time.
"Watching people stand in line for hours from different parts of the community, people who have never voted before, and just recognizing that voting is such a privilege, as you know, as it is a right," Marx said.
Now a U.S. citizen, Marx said she wanted to bring that same sense of celebration to American elections.
"Project Halo speaks to me because it's nonpartisan," she said. "It's not about a particular party. It's really about participating in democracy, irrespective of who you vote for."
The organization's Election Day schedule included locations in Atlanta, Chamblee, Lithonia, Decatur, Marietta, Powder Springs, Smyrna and Mableton, with DJs and family-friendly activities planned at several sites.
Polls in Georgia are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Voters must cast their ballots at their assigned precinct, and anyone in line by closing time is allowed to vote.
Additional information about Project HALO is available at halovote.org.
