Georgia Approves New Election Rules for 2024
Georgia legislators approved new regulations on Thursday regarding voter challenges and presidential ballot qualifications, potentially impacting the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state.
Senate Bill 189 passed in the House with a vote of 101 to 73 and in the Senate with a vote of 33-22, now awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp's decision to sign or veto it.
The bill comes in response to repeated calls from Georgia Republicans for election changes following false claims by former President Donald Trump and others regarding his loss of Georgia's 16 electoral votes in 2020 due to fraud allegations.
One significant change in the bill is granting access to Georgia's ballot for any political party that has qualified for the presidential ballot in at least 20 states or territories. This provision could benefit independent candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raising concerns among Democrats about potential support diversion from President Joe Biden.
Additionally, the bill outlines criteria for "probable cause" in upholding challenges to voter eligibility, which could lead to voter removal from rolls. "Probable cause" would be established if a voter is deceased, has voted or registered in a different jurisdiction, has claimed a homestead exemption elsewhere, or is registered at a nonresidential address.
“We define probable cause very simply,” stated Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania.
Democrats criticized this provision, warning it could lead to baseless attacks on voters, overwhelm election administrators, and disenfranchise people. They highlighted over 100,000 voter challenges in recent years by Republican activists, often based on fraudulent registration claims.
Rep. Saira Draper, a Democrat from Atlanta, condemned the provision as rooted in "lies and fearmongering."
Democratic Rep. Ruwa Romman of Duluth argued that bills like these erode trust in the U.S. election system, a fundamental pillar of democracy.
Republican Rep. Victor Anderson defended the voter challenge section, citing safeguards such as disregarding the appearance of a name on the U.S. Postal Service’s change of address list as sufficient grounds for challenge. He also noted a provision delaying challenges within 45 days of an election.
House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman John LaHood, a Republican from Valdosta, praised the bill for boosting confidence in elections.
The bill also mandates counties to report all absentee ballot results within an hour after polls close and allows counties to use paper ballots in elections with fewer than 5,000 registered voters, starting in 2025.
Furthermore, the measure phases out the use of QR codes for counting ballots on state marking devices by July 1, 2026, requiring ballots to be read using human-readable marks like filled-in bubbles, addressing concerns about QR code trustworthiness.