#ProtestPizzaATL Delivers Pizza to Atlantans at the Polls During Tuesday’s Primary

Lines to vote in the Georgia primary on Tuesday, June 9, are expected to be long throughout the day, and problems with voting machines at several polling stations around metro Atlanta are already being reported. But three Atlantans are delivering people stuck in long voting lines some relief in the form of pizza, doughnuts, and snacks.

Abbie Greene and Katie White created #ProtestPizzaATL two years ago out of frustration with the confusing early voting process during Georgia’s 2018 midterm election cycle. The pair threw together a crowd-sourced initiative right before the official election day to provide pizza and snacks to voters experiencing long lines at the polls. In just under a week prior the midterm election, they raised over $2,500 for the grassroots initiative.

This year, Adelaide Taylor joined Greene and White in their efforts. Ahead of Georgia’s 2020 primary on Tuesday, the trio raised over $6,000 to help purchase supplies, like gloves and plates, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, snacks, and pizza. A group of 30 volunteers have stepped up to pack and deliver food, bottled water, and other supplies to voters at polling stations throughout the city on Tuesday.

“Over the weekend, we put out a call on Instagram for donations and said that we would be ordering pizza. Junior’s Pizza reached out to Abbie to say they wanted to donate pizza and to ask us how many we needed and when,” Taylor says. “They’ve been amazing. Right now, they are our entire pizza source. We might have to order more pizza toward the end of the day, depending on the lines.”

Junior’s Pizza is donating 130 pizzas to #ProtestPizzaATL. Co-owners Alex and Jennifer Aton also closed the Summerhill pizzeria to the public on Tuesday in order to allow their employees time to vote.

Once the pizzas start coming out around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Taylor says volunteers begin delivering the pies to polling stations seeing long lines in Atlanta. Greene, White, and Taylor, who plan to be stationed at Junior’s Pizza throughout the day, are in the midst of organizing a crowd-sourced list of Atlanta polling locations currently experiencing voting issues. To help spread the word, people are asked to share the official posts using the hashtag #ProtestPizzaATL and to direct message Green, White, or Taylor on Instagram with any Atlanta polling stations experiencing long lines.

The support, for both fundraising and donations, has already been strong.

“We expected to use more of those donation funds to purchase supplies and snacks for today, but people who know people working at breweries and other businesses have been stepping up to donate gloves, masks, snacks, whatever they can,” Taylor tells Eater. “That money will be available to purchase more food, if long lines and problems continue.”

Any funds left over after Tuesday’s election will be donated to Fair Fight, a Georgia-based organization advocating free and fair elections, voter eduction, and election reform at the local, state, and federal levels.

Restaurants or other businesses interested in partnering with #ProtestPizzaATL to donate food or supplies to people at the polls should text 860-460-5870.

Greene, Taylor, and White hope to expand their #ProtestPizzaATL initiative ahead of the presidential election on Tuesday, November 3, which is expected to bring huge voter turnout across the nation.

Update, June 9, 7:55 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that Junior’s Pizza is providing 130 pizzas not 60 pizzas.

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