At every Regular Meeting, Milton’s Mayor and City Councilmembers cast votes on various items. But they will do it a little differently – and even more clearly, efficiently, and transparently, for all to see – starting at the next one on January 6.

That’s the date for the debut of the Council’s new electronic voting system. Rather than a raise of hands or verbal vote by calling out “yea” or “nay,” officials will enter their decision on a given matter on a City-issued iPad. That permanent vote will be recorded instantly, and it will appear just-as-fast on screens in Council Chambers (as seen in these photos during a trial run using the Dec. 16, 2024, agenda) as well as on the corresponding meeting video stream (which you can access on the City’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@CityofMiltonGeorgia/).

This new voting system comes at no additional cost to the City; rather, it allows us to make the most of a program (Municode) that is already in use. Its usefulness extends even after the meeting ends, as the City Clerk can much more quickly generate “action minutes” that can be posted even more quickly on this City webpage: https://www.miltonga.gov/government/city-clerk/agendas-and-minutes/. 

Other City committees who meet in City Hall are expected adopt this new technology showing their own members’ votes in the coming months. So if you attend a Design Review Board or BZA meeting later in 2025, for instance, real-time vote visuals should appear on Council Chambers’ screens and those meetings’ streaming video.

It all amounts to an upgrade in terms of transparency and efficiency – making it, in our opinion, a win-win for citizens and the City.