Civic Register
| 5.3.21

What’s in the Georgia Election Law? Voter ID Changes & More

Do you support or oppose the Georgia election law?

What’s the story?

  • A recently enacted Georgia election law known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021 has sparked controversy, with detractors calling it an attempt at voter suppression and proponents saying it secures Peach State elections and makes them more accessible.
  • President Joe Biden is among the Democrats who have likened the election law to the restrictions on voting imposed during the Jim Crow era and expressed sympathy for some efforts to boycott the state over the law. He was also given “four Pinocchios” by the Washington Post fact-checker for claims he made about the hours of polling places under the bill.
  • Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed the bill into law and has defended it alongside Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both of whom have been maligned by Democrats over this law and by former President Donald Trump after they refuted the latter’s efforts to cast doubt on election results in the state. Kemp says the bill “makes it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
  • Here’s a look at what the new Georgia election does and how it compares to the prior law: 

What does the new Georgia election law do?

VOTER ID

  • Georgia law previously required voters to show a form of identification to vote in person, but absentee ballots weren’t subject to the ID requirement. 
  • Under the new election law, the ID requirement applies to all ballots, while a previous signature requirement is eliminated (CBS found that about 3,200 of 1.1 million mail ballots were rejected due to signature issues in a June 2020 primary).
  • Voters can satisfy the ID requirement with a photo ID with a driver’s license, the last four digits of their Social Security number, a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, or a government document that shows their name and address. Voters can also obtain a free ID card from the state Dept. of Driver Services.
  • Absentee voters may provide a photocopy with their ballot to satisfy the requirement but can alternatively provide the ID number from their state-issued ID or the last four digits of their Social Security number to do so. 

EARLY VOTING

  • The new Georgia law requires there to be at least 17 days of early voting. Early voting would begin on the Monday that’s 22 days prior to Election Day and conclude on the Friday before the election.
  • Counties are required to offer early voting on at least two Saturdays (only one was required under prior law), and may also offer early voting on Sundays. Previously, most of the larger Georgia counties offered early voting on two Saturdays, but smaller, rural counties were less likely to do so.
  • Early voting must be open from 9am until 5pm, but counties may choose to offer expanded hours and remain open from 7am to 7pm. Previously, Georgia required that counties be open for early voting “during regular business hours” which meant that some rural counties with part-time election offices weren’t open for an eight-hour day.

ABSENTEE / MAIL-IN VOTING

  • State election officials are prohibited from sending unsolicited absentee ballot request forms to voters, so voters will have to request absentee ballots to receive them. Third-party groups may send absentee ballot request forms to voters, but must include a disclaimer that reads: “This is NOT an official government publication and was NOT provided to you by any governmental entity and this is NOT a ballot.”
  • The timeline for requesting and returning absentee ballots has been shortened by the new law. Voters can request absentee ballots as early as 78 days prior to an election (rather than 180 days) and must return them 11 days before the election.
  • Georgia allowed the use of secure drop boxes for returning ballots for the first time in 2020, and the new law requires at least one drop box per county (but no more than one drop box per 100,000 county residents). 
  • The drop boxes must be located inside the clerk’s office or inside a voting location and accessible during early voting hours, then closed when early voting ends. During the 2020 elections drop boxes were available at any time.

IN-PERSON VOTING

  • Counties that had a precinct with more than 2,000 voters in the last election or a precinct where voters waited for more than an hour to vote are required by the new law to create a new precinct or add resources that will reduce wait times.
  • Voters who go to the wrong precinct before 5pm will be instructed to go to the correct precinct instead of casting a provisional ballot, but if they’re at the wrong precinct after 5pm they can cast a provisional ballot if they’re unable to get to the proper precinct before polls close.

FOOD & BEVERAGE SERVICE AT POLLING PLACES

  • Georgia law previously banned political campaigns and interest groups from distributing or displaying campaign materials within 150 feet of a polling place or within 25 feet of voters in line for a polling place.
  • The new law also bans political campaigns and interest groups from giving voters gifts while they’re in line at a polling place, “including but not limited to, food and drink.” This provision is intended to prevent campaign workers or members of outside groups from campaigning within restricted areas.
  • Poll workers are allowed to set up self-service water for voters in line to use for hydration. Voters may also bring food and drink with them or get them from political campaign workers outside of the restricted areas around polling places.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

  • The secretary of state will no longer chair the five-member state election board, and will instead be a non-voting ex officio member. The board members and the non-partisan chair will be elected by the state legislature. The chair is prohibited from actively participating in a political party or similar organization, making political donations, or running for public office while serving in the role or in the two years prior to serving as chair.
  • The election board is granted new powers over local election officials under the new law. The board is able to suspend county or city election officials for poor performance or violating election board rules following a preliminary investigation and hearing then appoint temporary replacements, although no more than four officials can be suspended. 
  • A pandemic-related change that allowed election workers to start processing (but not tabulating) absentee ballots 15 days prior to Election Day is made permanent by the new law.
  • Election officials are required to publish the total number of ballots cast ― including Election Day, early voting, and absentee ballots ― by 10pm on Election Day.
  • Once election workers begin tabulating ballots they must continue counting until they’re done. With this change, counties are required to certify election results within six days, rather than 10 days under prior law. 
  • The Georgia attorney general is required to establish a hotline for voters to raise complaints about voter intimidation or other suspected illegal activity. Complaints can be anonymous and the AG is required to review the allegations to assess whether it merits further investigation or prosecution. Voters can challenge the qualifications of another voter to cast a ballot.

RUNOFFS

  • The period for runoff elections has been shortened from nine weeks after the general election to 28 days after the general election. 
  • The new law requires early voting in a runoff to begin “as soon as possible” and for early voting to be open from Monday through Friday, with weekend early voting possible depending on progress made by counties in completing work from the prior election.
  • Military and overseas voters will receive ranked-choice ballots on their primary and general election ballots because the shorter runoff period would make it difficult for them to receive and return the runoff ballot.


— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Georgia: iStock.com / omersukrugoksu | Polling Place: iStock.com / SDI Productions)

  • 86
    Skyler
    05/14/2021

    Once again - these laws are less “extreme” than states like colorado. They’re “common sense”.

  • 175
    Barbara
    05/09/2021

    All rights as American Citizens hang on our right to vote, The suppression of the right to vote is the tool of Dictators . What is next ? if leaders in the Republican party are Willing to do anything to stay in power.

  • 353
    IndyVoter
    05/08/2021

    Voters should be required to show one ID not Teo. We need to make Voting Eadier so that ALL US CITIZENS CAN VOTE. Even those without transportation. DEMOCRACY = EVERYONE VOTING

  • 217
    Douggie76
    05/07/2021

    We have to pass the voting rights bill!!! Down with the filibuster!!!

  • 219
    Zoe
    05/07/2021

    Georgia Republicans should be ashamed of their blatant actions to suppress the votes of thousands of people within their own state. Preventing the distribution of food and water to people waiting in line is a deliberate effort to dissuade people from voting in person, and the shortened timelines for counting ballots and runoff elections are to prevent counting all ballots and rush a victory. These acts of suppression will not only prevent people of color from voting, they will also prevent many republicans from voting. Republican politicians don’t even care about members of their own party, they only want to stay in charge and line their pockets with money from wealthy donors. The senate needs to pass the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect democracy!

  • 388
    Sharon
    05/07/2021

    I believe this law is designed to increase hardship in voting for specific groups of voters for political advantage. I think it sets the stage, as intended, for a government from federal (congress) down to states, counties, and cities ruled by one party. This law and others like it will essentially “abridge”, that is to say curtail, the voting rights of citizens which is in direct violation of the Constitution. The Constitution explicitly provides for the intervention by Congress in State election laws and laws influencing voting rights as it deems necessary. That means HR1 “For the People Act” is not unconstitutional. In my opinion, Georgia’s new laws that relate to election results and process are the perfect example to argue why HR1 is necessary if we want to remain a republic with “free and fair” elections and a multiple party system. See the following for further reason for my concern. Legal expert warns there's an under-the-radar GOP plot that could create a future 'democratic crisis' Alex Henderson Civil rights groups have been lambasting Republicans for the many voter suppression bills they have been proposing in state legislatures all over the U.S., warning that the bills are designed to make it more difficult to vote. But election law expert Rick Hasen, in a New York Times article published this week, warns that making voting harder or more of a hassle is not the worst part of these bills — or in the case of Georgia's so-called Election Integrity Act of 2021, an actual law. The most "dangerous" part of Republican voter suppression bills, according to Hasen, is the type of power they would give Republicans over the administration of elections. Hasen is worried that Republicans want to give themselves the ability to throw out democratic election results that they don't like. "A new, more dangerous front has opened in the voting wars, and it's going to be much harder to counteract than the now-familiar fight over voting rules," Hasen warns. "At stake is something I never expected to worry about in the United States: the integrity of the vote count. The danger of manipulated election results looms." Georgia's Election Integrity Act, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in March, is being slammed for, among other things, making it harder to obtain an absentee ballot and making it illegal to give food or water to someone waiting in line to vote. But according to Hasen, other parts of the law are "even more concerning." "The Georgia law removes the secretary of state from decision-making power on the state election board," Hasen explains. "This seems aimed clearly at Georgia's current Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, punishing him for rejecting (former President Donald) Trump's entreaties to 'find' 11,780 votes to flip Joe Biden's lead in the state. But the changes will apply to Mr. Raffensperger's successor, too, giving the legislature a greater hand in who counts votes and how they are counted." Hasen compares the Election Integrity Act to GOP actions in other states, noting a disturbing pattern. "Michigan's Republican Party refused to renominate Aaron Van Langevelde to the state's canvassing board; Mr. Van Langevelde voted with Democrats to accept Michigan's Electoral College vote for Mr. Biden as legitimate," Hasen observes. "He was replaced by Tony Daunt, the executive director of a conservative Michigan foundation that is financially backed by the DeVos family. Even those who have not been stripped of power have been censured by Republican Party organizations, including not just Mr. Raffensperger and Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, but also, Barbara Cegavske, the Republican secretary of state of Nevada who ran a fair election and rejected spurious arguments that the election was stolen." Hasen continues, "The message that these actions send to politicians is that if you want a future in state Republican politics, you had better be willing to manipulate election results or lie about election fraud. Republican state legislatures have also passed or are considering laws aimed at stripping Democratic counties of the power to run fair elections. The new Georgia law gives the legislature the power to handpick an election official who could vote on the state election board for a temporary takeover of up to four county election boards during the crucial period of administering an election and counting votes." The election law expert stresses that civil libertarians not only need to be talking about "voter suppression" — they also need to be sounding the alarm about "election subversion." "Combating efforts that can undermine the fair administration of elections and vote counting is especially tricky," Hasen notes. "Unlike issues of voter suppression, which are easy to explain to the public — what do you mean you can't give water to voters waiting in long lines?!? — the risks of unfair election administration are inchoate. They may materialize or they may not…. We may not know until January 2025, when Congress has counted the Electoral College votes of the states, whether those who support election integrity and the rule of law succeeded in preventing election subversion. That may seem far away, but the time to act to prevent a democratic crisis is now." https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/democratic-crisis/

  • 41.9k
    jimK
    05/04/2021

    If it ain’t broke but a political party does not like the results, they can go ahead put the fix in anyway- to fix the results to something they may like better. The big thing left out of the introduction Is that the Political State legislature is empowered to reject the pubic voting results in districts that may not lean their way and even reject the entire State’s voting and award their electors by their political vote, by crying fraud. The signature thing is ripe for abuse since few people sign their name the same exact way every-time. An untrained ‘expert’ official could easily challenge and reject signatures based on these differences and I doubt that there are enough qualified handwriting experts available to adequately monitor signature checks properly in non-GOP voting districts. … … … The only good thing about all of this, is that rational people should be so outraged by this GOP war on democracy that they will climb any mountain, fight their way through the barriers and get to the polls and run these a$$h@les out of government altogether. If Republicans can so glibly lie about the election being stolen, what else would they lie about if they are permitted to stay on power? Worried? You really should be - this is essentially coming down to a fight for the future of democracy.

  • 276
    JediJ
    05/06/2021

    We need to safeguard the integrity of our elections and basic ID checks is a very reasonable thing to ask

  • 1,271
    justiceforamerica
    05/06/2021

    Read it... It opens up the access and proper "identification" of voters so the walking dead, incarcerated, folks from other states perhaps planets don't vote and no shenanigans / cheating happen again. Americans support this 200%

  • 7,633
    DaveS
    05/06/2021

    Georgia white republicans are afraid of a fair election. The south red states white nationalist and KKK are afraid of fair election!

  • 304
    Kathy
    05/06/2021

    I heard the Lt. Gov of North Carolina, a black man, comment on requiring voter ID say that it is insulting even racist to claim requiring a person present a valid ID to be able to vote or require a signature to vote by mail. He knows there is very little that everyday Americans can do without having valid ID and anyone in Georgia can get free ID. Georgia is making it easy to vote but hard to cheat! By the way, President Biden's state of Delaware requires voter ID to vote & has NO early voting like the new Georgia bill does.

  • 1,814
    Stickyfingers
    05/06/2021

    It’s not any worse than Colorado’s or Delaware’s. The liberals have blown this way out of proportion. They control the liberal media with lies.

  • 1,085
    Michael777
    05/05/2021

    After reading the details of the Georgia voting bill, the bill clearly and objectively makes voting harder for Americans. It is indeed Jim Crow 2.0. The GOP thinks that by keeping the electorate as small as possible, it will help offset their shrinking and dying voter base and help them win elections. They think moderating their views is harder than rigging democracy. Americans are not going to like this. The main difference from the original Jim Crow Laws is that this time we have the Internet to help educate and organize others against these voter suppression laws!

  • 204
    Bluewitsend
    05/05/2021

    The Georgia election laws are a form of oppression and judges should strike them down. This oppression is not inline with what America stands for. All it amounts to is a group of leaders trying to stay in power and serve their own interests.

  • 148
    Ron
    05/05/2021

    Laws enacted based on lies can never be fair or just.

  • 86
    Thomas
    05/05/2021

    The Georgia election law is an outstanding law. It makes it easier for people to vote and harder for people to cheat. With that being said this is a State Issue the Federal Government needs to stay out of it. Since you do not know how to read have some read the constitution to you.

  • 156
    Jeremy
    05/04/2021

    There is nothing in this law like the Jim Crow laws. It requires no test, no special requests to prove knowledge of any thing, it is evenly enforced among all people. It simply removes possible ways to vote illegally. Requesting an ID is not stopping anyone but those that want to bypass voting laws. And stop reducing minorities as ignorant people that can’t figure out how to obtain one.

  • 27
    Phillip
    05/05/2021

    I have said many times to whom would listen the greatest threat to our country and democracy is the Republican Party. They are dishonest and corrupt and will do anything to hold onto power. The recent anti voter laws passed in Georgia and other states is an example of the threat.

  • 109
    Robbie
    05/05/2021

    There are stricter laws in other states . Florida and Texas both just past stricter laws . And not a peep From anyone .

  • 65
    Amanda
    05/05/2021

    Why wouldn't anybody support integrity in elections?? I support it 200%