By Mark Woolsey
It’s official. The Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration certified the results of the 2026 midterm elections, which drew record turnout in Cobb.
There was plenty of praise for Elections Director Leigh Phillips after her first general election in the role, although one board member questioned a few procedures.
Phillips told the board Monday afternoon that the county recorded 339,277 votes. Early in-person voting drew 227,318 voters over three weeks, more than double the 100,427 who cast ballots on Election Day, Nov. 3.
The county also recorded 11,249 absentee ballots by mail and 283 provisional votes, Phillips said.
Phillips said the county resolved a small discrepancy in Election Day voting. A total of 100,476 voters checked in at county polling places, but 100,427 cast ballots.
Based on reports from polling places, Phillips said, 13 voters abandoned their ballots and 36 left with their ballots.
Nearly 65% of Cobb’s 525,871 registered voters cast ballots in the election.
“I just wanted to thank everybody for a very smooth election,” said board Vice Chair Stacey Efrat. “The last few big elections there have been a few hiccups and we’ve been bracing for something, but it all went really well,” she added, thanking Phillips, elections staff and poll workers.
Board Chair Jennifer Mosbacher also congratulated Phillips and her staff. She said turnout exceeded the 2022 midterm total by more than 26,000 voters. She also said Cobb had the highest turnout rate in metro Atlanta and among Georgia counties with more than 100,000 residents.
Phillips also discussed problems with Fort Orange Press, the vendor that mailed absentee ballots. Some voters did not receive their ballots on time, and more than 30 requested replacements. The county quickly sent those ballots through the U.S. Postal Service.
“We are looking to move forward with a new vendor,” Phillips said.
Officials said the vendor’s ballot tracking and communication fell short.
Phillips also addressed an error in Sewell Mill Precinct 01 that assigned a small number of voters to the wrong Georgia House district. The error involved two House seats.
Phillips said both candidates ran unopposed, so the error did not change either outcome. The mistake occurred when ballot combinations were uploaded. Elections officials spotted it during early voting, too late to correct it.