Atlanta newsperson Jeff Amy identified uncounted voter petitions in a legal battle, using statistical sampling to determine organizers’ signature counts. Coordinating with AP members, Amy drew inspiration from a New Orleans newspaper’s mayoral recall petition analysis. Collaborating with Georgia Public Broadcasting, he developed a methodology and recruited partners from WABE and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Together, they counted 100,000+ signatures, sampling 1,000 entries to assess matches with eligible Atlanta voters. Refining the margin of error methodology with input from AP polling editor Emily Swanson, partners independently reported stories, with a concise summary of methods and results. AP photographer Brynn Anderson contributed to a photo presentation, and a robust video report complemented text and photos. Multiple Atlanta TV stations covered the analysis in interviews with Amy or partners, who continued promoting their work through podcasts, radio broadcasts, and print. Key contributors included Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Stephen Fowler and Amanda Andrews, WABE’s Chamian Cruz, Emily Wu Pearson, Jasmine Robinson, and AJC’s Riley Bunch, Pete Corson, Rahul Deshpande, Stephanie Lamm, Charles Minshew and Justin Price.
AP Exclusive leads Atlanta media partners in innovative analysis to report on voter referendum petition
Gabriel Sanchez, right, talks with Atlanta resident, Bobby Thornton, left, Thursday, July 20, 2023, in Atlanta. Activists with the Stop Cop City Vote Coalition are trying to get the signatures of more than 70,000 Atlanta residents by Aug. 14 to force a referendum allowing voters to decide the fate of a proposed police and firefighter training center. But an analysis of petition entries by four news organizations finds it’s unclear whether petitioners have enough valid entries to force the citywide vote, with nearly half the entries unable to be matched to eligible registered Atlanta voters.
AP PHOTO / BRYNN ANDERSON