Unless you have been living under a rock you have probably seen a couple of news stories (and maybe other types of mentions) about the recently passed law that passed in Georgia on voting - "The Election Integrity Act of 2021". It has been labeled by most of the media and an increasing number of celebrities and athletes as "racist", the "revival of Jim Crow", "suppression of the minority vote", and other scary names.
As with some other laws and proposed laws, I decided to actually read the bill to see what the uproar is about. I would wager that most of those railing against the bill have not read it. The bill is 94 pages long. It contains a lot of "stuff" that probably could have been said more clearly and simply - like most bills. It seems those that write the bills at the State and Federal level live by the theory that if 20 words is good, 100 words is better. I am going to try to give you a synopsis of the bill and tell you what it says. I will use direct excerpts from the bill as well as some synopsis of the more benign parts. I am also going to give you the page numbers where some of the most "troublesome" parts are so that if you want to go read it yourself, it will save you some time. 94 pages is a lot of bs to wade through! Let's go...
The bill starts with a couple of pages stating what the bill was written to do/change. Here are the actual words with no editing: (one of the longest run-on sentences ever! Someone failed elementary writing!)
To comprehensively revise elections and voting; to amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections and primaries generally, so as to revise a definition; to provide for the establishment of a voter intimidation and illegal election activities hotline; to limit the ability of the State Election Board and the Secretary of State to enter into certain consent agreements, settlements, and consent orders; to provide that the Secretary of State shall be a nonvoting ex officio member of the State Election Board; to provide for the appointment, confirmation, term, and removal of the chairperson of the State Election Board; to revise provisions relating to a quorum of such board; to require the Secretary of State to support and assist the State Election Board; to provide for the appointment of temporary and permanent replacement superintendents; to provide for procedures; to provide for performance reviews of local election officials requested by the State Election Board or local governing authorities; to provide for a definition; to provide for appointment and duties of performance review boards; to provide for reports of performance review boards; to provide for promulgation of rules and regulations; to provide additional requirements on the State Election Board's power to adopt emergency rules and regulations; to provide that no election superintendents or boards of registrars shall accept private funding; to provide that the State Election Board shall develop methods for distribution of donations; to provide that certain persons may serve as poll workers in other than the county of their residence; to provide for the appointment of acting election superintendents in the event of a vacancy or incapacitation in the office of judge of the probate court of counties without a board of elections; to provide for resumption of the duties of election superintendent upon the filling of such vacancy; to provide for the compensation of such acting election superintendents; to provide for the reduction in size of certain precincts under certain circumstances; to provide for notice when polling places are relocated; to provide for certain reports; to provide limitations on the use of buses and other moveable facilities; to provide for allocation of voting equipment by counties and municipalities; to provide for the manner of handling the death of a candidate prior to a nonpartisan election; to provide that no candidate shall take or be sworn into any elected public office unless such candidate has received a majority of the votes cast for such office except as otherwise provided by law; to provide for participation in a multistate voter registration system; to revise procedures and standards for challenging electors; to provide for the printing of ballots on safety paper; to provide for the time and manner for applying for absentee ballots; to provide for certain limitations and sanctions on the distribution of absentee ballot applications; to provide for the manner of processing of absentee ballot applications; to provide for absentee ballot drop boxes and the requirements therefor; to provide for the time and manner of issuing absentee ballots; to provide for the manner of voting and returning absentee ballots; to revise the times for advance voting; to limit changes to advance voting locations in the period prior to an election; to provide notice requirements for changes of advance voting locations; to provide for the processing and tabulation of absentee ballots; to provide sanctions for improperly opening an absentee ballot; to provide for certain elector identification for absentee balloting; to provide for monitors and observers; to provide for poll watcher training; to provide for restrictions on the distribution of certain items within close proximity to the polls on election days; to provide for the voting and processing of provisional ballots; to provide for duplication panels for defective ballots that cannot be processed by tabulating machines; to provide for ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters; to revise the time for runoffs; to revise eligibility to vote in runoffs; to provide for the deadline for election certification; to provide for a pilot program for the scanning and publishing of ballots; to provide for the inspection and copying of original ballots by certain persons following the completion of a recount; to provide for special primaries and special elections to fill vacancies in certain offices; to provide for public notice and observation of preparation of voting equipment; to provide for observation of elections and ballot processing and counting; to provide for the filling of vacancies in certain offices; to prohibit observing or attempting to observe how a voter marks or has marked his or her ballot or inducing a voter to do so; to prohibit the acceptance of a ballot for return without authorization; to prohibit the photographing or other recording of ballots and ballot markers; to amend Chapter 35 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to home rule powers, so as to provide for the delay of reapportionment of municipal corporation election districts when census numbers are delayed; to amend Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding state government, so as to provide for the submission and suspension of emergency rules by the State Election Board; to provide that scanned ballot images are public records; to provide for legislative findings; to provide a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for effective dates; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Anyone still wonder why it is 94 pages long?!? I wonder how they capped it at 94 after that. OK, if you have read that, let's move on to how they accomplished all of that!
If you want to get to the bottom line as far as I am concerned, without having to read even my synopsis, here you go: I do NOT see any problem with any aspect of this bill. It actually increases access to early voting, and codifies the use of dropboxes and mail-in voting. It does require ID for absentee, but has a broad range of ID that qualifies, even getting to a utility bill. The former law called for signature verification, which was not accurate and very subject to error. Most of what is here is just clarification of existing laws and regulations.
Early on the bill gets into one of the changes that have been labeled as "racist" and all the other things I said above; the change in early voting. Here is what the bill says: The broad discretion allowed to local officials for advance voting dates and hours led to significant variations across the state in total number of hours of advance voting, depending on the county. More than 100 counties have never offered voting on Sunday and many counties offered only a single day of weekend voting. Requiring two Saturday voting days and two optional Sunday voting days will dramatically increase the total voting hours for voters across the State of Georgia, and all electors in Georgia will have access to multiple opportunities to vote in person on the weekend for the first time.
So, what the bill does is make mandatory at least two Saturdays of early voting and recommends Sunday early voting as well, with two Sunday options. Early voting is now standardized throughout the State with more weekend options in almost every case.
The next area addressed is the money that flowed into the State directly to county/city Boards of Elections. As a relatively new phenomenon there really were no laws to address this. Now, money for support of elections being given would seem like a good thing. The problem is bias and the fact that money was only given to very specific areas and precincts. Granted, this is also a partisan argument as almost all of the money given was to high majority Democratic areas. But, this still represented a huge risk of manipulation or influencing elections as well as disparity between the funds available and spend per capita in varying areas. The bill says: Some counties in 2020 received significant infusions of grant funding for election operations, while other counties received no such funds. Promoting uniformity in the distribution of funds to election operations will boost voter confidence and ensure that there is no political advantage conferred by preferring certain counties over others in the distribution of funds.
Part of the issue with the 2020 elections were the change in the voting process due to the pandemic. I will not get into the right and wrong of that; it is water under the bridge. It is a fact that most, if not all, of these changes were made under temporary and/or emergency rulings and decrees that were specifically for the 2020 election. They since have lost any authority or power in almost all cases. The bill addresses some of these issues as well like the dropboxes and mail-in ballots.
The dropboxes were an issue in certain areas for a lot of reasons. They were unsecured, unregulated as to the design, size, access, and almost any other parameter as they were last minute additions that did not have the power of regulation/law behind them. The boxes were instituted by the Boards of Elections and not by laws passed by the Legislatures. The law addressed the dropboxes and makes them legal with parameters for the above mentioned specifications. The law says: Opportunities for delivering absentee ballots to a drop box were first created by the State Election Board as a pandemic response. The drop boxes created by rule no longer existed in Georgia law when the emergency rules that created them expired. The General Assembly considered a variety of options and constructed a system that allows the use of drop boxes, while also ensuring the security of the system and providing options in emergency situations.
So, dropboxes were made legal, and standardized with specific hours and controls. More later.
The increase in absentee (and the new mail-in) ballots created a delay in counts in a lot of precincts and jurisdictions. Part of this was due to the laws that prohibited any pre-counting of these ballot prior to the close of the polls. (Did you know that? It was actually a violation of election law to count the absentee/mail-in ballots until the end of election day voting in most areas, including Georgia. Delays anyone?) There is now legal precedent for the votes to be pre-counted but not revealed until after as to not affect the outcome. The law says: Counting absentee ballots in 2020 took an incredibly long time in some counties. Creating processes for early processing and scanning of absentee ballots will promote elector confidence by ensuring that results are reported quickly.
There has been a lot of coverage of the "no water in line" rule that is in the law. It is in the law, which we will see later. There were actual complaints from voters that were in line about being approached by people that were trying to influence their vote. They were being asked who they supported and such. The new law is to prevent this. If a loophole had been left for water or food to be offered, it would have been impossible to prevent people approaching. The explanation is: The sanctity of the precinct was also brought into sharp focus in 2020, with many groups approaching electors while they waited in line. Protecting electors from improper interference, political pressure, or intimidation while waiting in line to vote is of paramount importance to protecting the election system and ensuring elector confidence.
Another issue that slowed down the vote tabulation caused by people from outside the precinct wanting to vote on a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots can be important to help with poll worker human error, improperly printed voter rolls, or other reasons. But, a large percentage of provisional ballots end up being discarded due to not being valid (people already voted elsewhere, not properly registered, etc.). The bill specifies that people appearing at the wrong polling place will be told where their polling place is and told to go there. More later on this as well. The law says: Electors voting out of precinct add to the burden on election officials and lines for other electors because of the length of time it takes to process a provisional ballot in a precinct. Electors should be directed to the correct precinct on election day to ensure that they are able to vote in all elections for which they are eligible.
There were complaints from both major political parties as well as some non-partisan observers of irregularities. The law addresses this by setting up a formal "complaint line" (my words) to the Attorney General with this: The Attorney General shall have the authority to establish and maintain a telephone hotline for the use of electors of this state to file complaints and allegations of voter intimidation and illegal election activities. Such hotline shall, in addition to complaints and reports from identified persons, also accept anonymous tips regarding voter intimidation and election fraud. The Attorney General shall have the authority to review each complaint or allegation of voter intimidation or illegal election activities within three business days or as expeditiously as possible and determine if such complaint or report should be investigated or prosecuted.
The bill standardizes the makeup of the State Board of Elections as well as setting up some parameters to regulate the local boards and poll workers. There is also some formalization and updating of the rules on how to handle the death of a candidate that is on the ballot that died to late for another candidate to be named. I do not see this as much of a problem myself or in any of the hubbub around the law so I will just print some of it here without commentary: (note this is NOT the entire verbiage on these subjects, just my selected highlights. If you have an interest in reading it all, see pages 8 - 22 of the bill) The chairperson of the board shall be nonpartisan. At no time during his or her service as chairperson shall the chairperson actively participate in a political party organization or in the campaign of a candidate for public office, nor shall he or she make any campaign contributions to a candidate for public office. Furthermore, to qualify for appointment as chairperson, in the two years immediately preceding his or her appointment, a person shall not have qualified as a partisan candidate for public office, participated in a political party organization or the campaign of a partisan candidate for public office, or made any campaign contributions to a partisan candidate for public office.
Makeup of Board from both parties. – Board can suspend or
relieve County/City Election officials for cause – no more than 4. Sets up
performance reviews and such to determine performance prior to dismissal –
rules:
(c) Following the preliminary hearing described in
subsection (b) of this Code section, the State Election Board may suspend a
county or municipal superintendent pursuant to this Code section if at least
three members of the board find, after notice and hearing, that: (1) By a
preponderance of the evidence, a county or municipal superintendent has committed at least three violations of this
title or of State Election Board rules and regulations, in the last two general
election cycles; and the county or municipal superintendent has not
sufficiently remedied the violations; or (2) By clear and convincing evidence,
the county or municipal superintendent has, for at least two elections within a
two-year period, demonstrated nonfeasance, malfeasance, or gross negligence in
the administration of the elections.
Specifics on “special & extraordinary” standards, rules,
and/or regulations to address circumstances of imminent peril to public health,
safety, or welfare. (pandemic?) by the Board and the notification process prior
to implementation.
To address outside money going directly to Counties/Boards of
Election: (b) No superintendent shall take or accept any funding, grants, or
gifts from any source other than from the governing authority of the county or
municipality, the State of Georgia, or the federal government. (c) The State
Election Board shall study and report to the General Assembly a proposed method
for accepting donations intended to facilitate the administration of elections
and a method for an equitable distribution of such donations state wide by
October 1, 2021."
POLL WORKERS – must live in the County where serving, (or
municipality in a City election), must not hold political office (except for
office of a political party) or be on the ballot in that precinct – nor any
immediate relative of same.
Pages 23 - 28 cover how a voter can be challenged as to their proper registration and eligibility to vote. Here are some highlights: To formalize a challenge to registration of a proposed voter: Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-229, relating to challenge of applicant for registration by other electors, notice and hearing, and right of appeal, as follows: "21-2-229. (a) Any elector of a county or municipality may challenge the qualifications of any person applying to register to vote in the county or municipality and may challenge the qualifications of any elector of the county or municipality whose name appears on the list of electors. Such challenges shall be in writing and shall specify distinctly the grounds of the challenge. There shall not be a limit on the number of persons whose qualifications such elector may challenge. More on how to handle a challenged voter if they arrive to vote.
To formalize a challenge to registration of a proposed
voter: Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 21-2-229,
relating to challenge of applicant for registration by other electors, notice
and hearing, and right of appeal, as follows: "21-2-229. (a) Any elector
of a county or municipality may challenge the qualifications of any person
applying to register to vote in the county or municipality and may challenge
the qualifications of any elector of the county or municipality whose name
appears on the list of electors. Such challenges shall be in writing and shall
specify distinctly the grounds of the challenge. There shall not be a limit on
the number of persons whose qualifications such elector may challenge. More
on how to handle a challenged voter if they arrive to vote.
I do not have any issues with these parameters (in fact I thought they were all already in the election laws). I do recognize this is one area that people have concerns with so I am going to just post the above and you can go to those pages (23 - 28) and read it for yourself.
The next section gets into forming a non-partisan (love that word - as if anything surrounding government can be non-partisan - their words not mine) commission to check for data on deaths, moves, and such that would require a person to be removed from the voter registration roles. The law says (and references other regulations) : The formalization of removing people from the registration rolls: "(3) Once becoming a member of the nongovernmental entity described in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-225, the Secretary of State shall obtain regular information from such entity regarding electors who may have moved to another state, died, or otherwise become ineligible to vote in Georgia. The Secretary of State shall use such information to conduct list maintenance on the list of eligible electors.
I did some research into this aspect as I realize it too has become politically charged when anyone is removed from the voter roles. From what I found this commission was created from earlier legislation. Again, I have no problem with it. I can offer a bit of personal commentary on this subject. My wife passed away in 2011. Even though I went down to the Board of Elections in Forsyth County where she was registered, it still took until 2018 (and another in-person visit by me) to get her removed from the registration lists.
The next three subjects are also a bit benign in my mind. They involve precincts being split when they get too large, ballot configurations, helping to specify the number of voting machines and voting booths at precincts. Some of the delays were due to a lack of either or both from what I have read. The complete verbiage is on pages 28 - 33 if you care to read it. Highlights are: Formalize process and requirements or forming new precincts to reduce wait times. Formalize the process to move a voting place for safety or other issues.
Outline that non-partisan elections should be on a
separate ballot or page if possible, from the partisan elections.
Formalize the number of voting booths and/or machines are
available at each polling place.
One complaint in some areas was the fact that ballots were printed on printers other than the "official" ones as the ballots had no special aspect to them. The next section specifies that absentee and mail-in ballots be printed on security paper (watermarked or otherwise identifiable as "official") to eliminate the chance of fraud. The entire section is: BALLOTS: Other than ballots delivered electronically to qualified electors who are entitled to vote by absentee ballot under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. Section 20301, et seq., the ballots shall be printed on security paper that incorporates features which can be used to authenticate the ballot as an official ballot but which do not make the ballot identifiable to a particular elector."
Then there is specifications of and requirements for testing of voting machines. It reads: Voting Machine Tests: "(c) On or before the third day preceding a primary or election, including special primaries, special elections, and referendum elections, the superintendent shall have each electronic ballot marker tested to ascertain that it will correctly record the votes cast for all offices and on all questions and produce a ballot reflecting such choices of the elector in a manner that the State Election Board shall prescribe by rule or regulation. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be made at least five days prior thereto. The superintendent of each county or municipality shall publish such notice on the homepage of the county's or municipality's publicly accessible website associated with elections and in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or municipality and by posting in a prominent location in the county or municipality. Such notice shall state the date, time, and place or places where preparation and testing of the voting system components for use in the primary or election will commence, that such preparation and testing shall continue from day to day until complete, and that representatives of political parties and bodies, news media, and the public shall be permitted to observe such tests. The superintendent of the county or municipality shall also provide such notice to the Secretary of State who shall publish on his or her website the information received from superintendents stating the dates, times, and locations for preparation and testing of voting system components. However, such representatives of political parties and bodies, news media, and the public shall not in any manner interfere with the preparation and testing of voting system components. The advertisement in the newspaper of general circulation shall be prominently displayed, shall not be less than 30 square inches, and shall not be placed in the section of the newspaper where legal notices appear."
Then there is very detailed coverage of how, when, why, etc. of absentee ballots. The pages are 34 - 69. Some highlights (actually a LOT as this is a critical section: ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUESTS: Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 21-2-219 or for advance voting described in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385, not more earlier than 78 days or less than 11 days prior to the date of the primary or election, or runoff of either, in which the elector desires to vote, any absentee elector may make, either by mail, by facsimile transmission, by electronic transmission, or in person in the registrar's or absentee ballot clerk's office, an application for an official ballot of the elector's precinct to be voted at such primary, election, or runoff. To be timely received, an application for an absentee-by-mail ballot shall be received by the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk no later than 11 days prior to the primary, election, or runoff. For advance voting in person, the application shall be made within the time period set forth in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385.
Any person applying for an absentee-by-mail ballot shall
make application in writing on the form made available by the Secretary of
State. In order to confirm the identity of the voter, such form shall require
the elector to provide his or her name, date of birth, address as registered,
address where the elector wishes the ballot to be mailed, and the number of his
or her Georgia driver's license or identification card issued pursuant to
Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 40. If such elector does not have a Georgia
driver's license or identification card issued pursuant to Article 5 of Chapter
5 of Title 40, the elector shall affirm this fact in the manner prescribed in
the application and the elector shall provide a copy of a form of
identification listed in subsection (c) 897 of Code Section 21-2-417. The form
made available by the Secretary of State shall include a space to affix a
photocopy or electronic image of such identification. The Secretary of State
shall develop a method to allow secure electronic transmission of such form.
The application shall be in writing and shall contain sufficient information
for proper identification of the elector; the permanent or temporary address of
the elector to which the absentee ballot shall be mailed; also include the
identity of the primary, election, or runoff in which the elector wishes to
vote; and the name and relationship of the person requesting the ballot if
other than the elector; and an oath for the elector or relative to write his or
her usual signature with a pen and ink affirming that the elector is a
qualified Georgia elector and the facts presented on the application are true.
Submitting false information on an application for an absentee ballot shall be
a violation of Code Sections 21-2-560 and 21-2-571.
SENDING OF BALLOTS: A blank application for an
absentee ballot shall be made available online by the Secretary of State and
each election superintendent and registrar, but neither the Secretary of State,
election superintendent, board of registrars, other governmental entity, nor
employee or agent thereof shall send absentee ballot applications directly to
any elector except upon request of such elector or a relative authorized to
request an absentee ballot for such elector. No person or entity other than a
relative authorized to request an absentee ballot for such elector or a person
signing as assisting an illiterate or physically disabled elector shall send
any elector an absentee ballot application that is prefilled with the elector's
required information set forth in this subparagraph. No person or entity other
than the elector, a relative authorized to request an absentee ballot for such
elector, a person signing as assisting an illiterate or physically disabled
elector with his or her application, a common carrier charged with returning
the ballot application, an absentee ballot clerk, a registrar, or a law
enforcement officer in the course of an investigation shall handle or return an
elector's completed absentee ballot application. Handling a completed absentee
ballot application by any person or entity other than as allowed in this
subsection shall be a misdemeanor. Any application for an absentee ballot sent
to any elector by any person or entity shall utilize the form of the
application made available by the Secretary of State and shall clearly and
prominently disclose on the face of the form: 'This is NOT an official
government publication and was NOT provided to you by any governmental entity
and this is NOT a ballot. It is being distributed by [insert name and address
of person, organization, or other entity distributing such document or
material].'
Except in the case of physically disabled electors residing
in the county or municipality or electors in custody in a jail or other detention
facility in the county or municipality, no absentee ballot shall be mailed to
an address other than the permanent mailing address of the elector as recorded
on the elector's voter registration record or a temporary out-of-county or
out-of-municipality address. Upon request, electors held in jails or other
detention facilities who are eligible to vote shall be granted access to the
necessary personal effects for the purpose of applying for and voting an
absentee ballot pursuant to this chapter. (E) Relatives applying for absentee
ballots for electors must also sign an oath stating that facts in the
application are true. (F) If the elector is unable to fill out or sign such
elector's own application because of illiteracy or physical disability, the elector
shall make such elector's mark, and the person filling in the rest of the
application shall sign such person's name below it as a witness.
Formalize notification procedures of rejected absentee
ballot requests. Formalize and allow for temporary registration locations.
ABSENTEE DROP BOXES: A board of registrars or
absentee ballot clerk shall establish at least one drop box as a means for
absentee by mail electors to deliver their ballots to the board of registrars
or absentee ballot clerk. A board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk may
establish additional drop boxes, subject to the limitations of this Code
section, but may only establish additional drop boxes totaling the lesser of
either one drop box for every 100,000 active registered voters in the county or
the number of advance voting locations in the county. Any additional drop boxes
shall be evenly geographically distributed by population in the county. Drop
boxes established pursuant to this Code section shall be established at the office
of the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk or inside locations at
which advance voting, as set forth in subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385,
is conducted in the applicable primary, election, or runoff and may be open
during the hours of advance voting at that location. Such drop boxes shall be
closed when advance voting is not being conducted at that location. All drop
boxes shall be closed when the advance voting period ends, as set forth in
subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385. The drop box location shall have
adequate lighting and be under constant surveillance by an election official or
his or her designee, law enforcement official, or licensed security guard.
During an emergency declared by the Governor pursuant to Code Section 38-3-51,
drop boxes may be located outside the office of the board of registrars or
absentee ballot clerk or outside of locations at which advance voting is taking
place, subject to the other limitations of this Code section.
The board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk shall
arrange for the collecting and return of ballots deposited at each drop box at
the conclusion of each day where advance voting takes place. Collection of
ballots from a drop box shall be made by a team of at least two people. Any person
collecting ballots from a drop box shall have sworn an oath in the same form as
the oath for poll officers set forth in Code Section 21-2-95. The collection
team shall complete and sign a ballot transfer form upon removing the ballots
from the drop box which shall include the date, time, location, number of
ballots, confirmation that the drop box was locked after the removal of the
ballots, and the identity of each person collecting the ballots. The collection
team shall then immediately transfer the ballots to the board of registrars or
absentee ballot clerk, who shall process and store the ballots in the same
manner as absentee ballots returned by mail are processed and stored. The board
of registrars, absentee ballot clerk, or a designee of the board of registrars
or absentee ballot clerk shall sign the ballot transfer form upon receipt of
the ballots from the collection team. Such form shall be considered a public
record pursuant to Code Section 50-18-70. (4) At the beginning of voting at
each advance location where a drop box is present, the manager of the advance
voting location shall open the drop box and confirm on the reconciliation form
for that advance voting location that the drop box is empty. If the drop box is
not empty, the manager shall secure the contents of the drop box and
immediately inform the election superintendent, board of registrars, or
absentee ballot clerk, who shall inform the Secretary of State."
then: Formalizing the mailing of absentee ballots and the
affidavit of a person assisting someone.
Rules for handling, storing, approving. or rejecting, and
counting an absentee ballot. (page 61-68)
The next area covers poll hours. There is NO change to cut off voting at 5 pm as has been widely touted by opponents. The only mention of 5 o'clock is back in the early voting sections for weekend voting and in the provisional voting section coming up (can only do a provisional ballot AFTER 5 pm). This part specifies that polling places can be kept open if needed due to delays. Here is the wording: VOTING TIMES & POLL HOURS: Poll hours at a precinct may be extended only by order of a judge of the superior court of the county in which the precinct is located upon good cause shown by clear and convincing evidence that persons were unable to vote at that precinct during a specific period or periods of time. Poll hours shall not be extended longer than the total amount of time during which persons were unable to vote at such precinct. Any order extending poll hours at a precinct beyond 9:00 P.M. shall be by written order with specific findings of fact supporting such extension."
Then the bill addresses appointment of poll workers. Here: POLL WATCHERS: In counties or municipalities using direct recording electronic (DRE) voting systems or optical scanning voting systems, each political party may appoint two poll watchers in each primary or election, each political body may appoint two poll watchers in each election, each nonpartisan candidate may appoint one poll watcher in each nonpartisan election, and each independent candidate may appoint one poll watcher in each election to serve in the locations designated by the superintendent within the tabulating center. Such designated locations shall include the check-in area, the computer room, the duplication area, and such other areas as the superintendent may deem necessary to the assurance of fair and honest procedures in the tabulating center. The locations designated by the superintendent shall ensure that each poll watcher can fairly observe the procedures set forth in this Code section. The poll watchers provided for in this subsection shall be appointed and serve in the same manner as other poll watchers." "(e) No person shall be appointed or be eligible to serve as a poll watcher in any primary or election in which such person is a candidate. No person shall be eligible to serve as a poll watcher unless he or she has completed training provided by the political party, political body, or candidate designating the poll watcher. Upon request, the Secretary of State shall make available material to each political party, political body, or candidate that can be utilized in such training, but it shall be the responsibility of the political party, political body, or candidate designating the poll watcher to instruct poll watchers in their duties and in applicable laws and rules and regulations. Each political party, political body, or candidate shall, in their written designation of poll watchers, certify under oath that the named poll watchers have completed the training required by this Code section."
Then the dreaded no contact section. If you read this, the regulation covers within 150 feet of the polling place. It also allows for water to be provided from a fountain or other form without any contact from non-authorized poll workers. Poll workers can offer water or assistance to a voter in line. Anyone can offer water or food outside of 150 ft. Here is the actual wording (in its entirety, but it is page 71 if you care to read directly): CONTACT WITH VOTERS: restrictions on campaign activities and public opinion polling within the vicinity of a polling place, cellular phone use prohibited, prohibition of candidates from entering certain polling places, and penalty, as follows: "(a) No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast: (1) Within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building within which a polling place is established; (2) Within any polling place; or (3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place. These restrictions shall not apply to conduct occurring in private offices or areas which cannot be seen or heard by such electors." "(e) This Code section shall not be construed to prohibit a poll officer from distributing materials, as required by law, which are necessary for the purpose of instructing electors or from distributing materials prepared by the Secretary of State which are designed solely for the purpose of encouraging voter participation in the election being conducted or from making available self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in line to vote."
We are in the home stretch now. The bill gets into provisional ballots like so: PROVISIONAL BALLOTS: If the person presents himself or herself at a polling place in the county in which he or she is registered to vote, but not at the precinct at which he or she is registered to vote, the poll officials shall inform the person of the polling location for the precinct where such person is registered to vote. The poll officials shall also inform such person that any votes cast by a provisional ballot in the wrong precinct will not be counted unless it is cast after 5:00 P.M. and before the regular time for the closing of the polls on the day of the primary, election, or runoff and unless the person executes a sworn statement, witnessed by the poll official, stating that he or she is unable to vote at his or her correct polling place prior to the closing of the polls and giving the reason therefor. (b) Such person voting a provisional ballot shall complete an official voter registration form and a provisional ballot voting certificate which shall include information about the place, manner, and approximate date on which the person registered to vote. The person shall swear or affirm in writing that he or she previously registered to vote in such primary or election, is eligible to vote in such primary or election, has not voted previously in such primary or election, and meets the criteria for registering to vote in such primary or election. If the person is voting a provisional ballot in the county in which he or she is registered to vote but not at the precinct in which he or she is registered to vote during the period from 5:00 P.M. to the regular time for the closing of the polls on the day of the primary, election, or runoff, the person shall execute a sworn statement, witnessed by the poll official, stating that he or she is unable to vote at his or her correct polling place prior to the closing of the polls and giving the reason therefor. The form of the provisional ballot voting certificate shall be prescribed by the Secretary of State. The person shall also present the identification required by Code Section 21-2-417."
More on Handling Provisional Ballots – pages 73-75
The last section is on the compilation and reporting of results. Here are the highlights: REPORTING OF RESULTS/COUNTS: (a) After the time for the closing of the polls and the last elector voting, the poll officials in each precinct shall complete the required accounting and related documentation for the precinct and shall advise the election superintendent of the total number of ballots cast at such precinct and the total number of provisional ballots cast. The chief manager and at least one assistant manager shall post a copy of the tabulated results for the precinct on the door of the precinct and then immediately deliver all required documentation and election materials to the election superintendent. The election superintendent shall then ensure that such ballots are processed, counted, and tabulated as soon as possible and shall not cease such count and tabulation until all such ballots are counted and tabulated. (b) The election superintendent shall ensure that each precinct notifies the election superintendent of the number of ballots cast and number of provisional ballots cast as soon as possible after the time for the closing of the polls and the last elector votes. The election superintendent shall post such information publicly. The State Election Board shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding how such information shall be publicly posted to ensure transparency, accuracy, and security. 21-2-421. 1956 (a) As soon as possible but not later than 10:00 P.M. following the close of the polls on the day of a primary, election, or runoff, the election superintendent shall report to the Secretary of State and post in a prominent public place the following information: (1) The number of ballots cast at the polls on the day of the primary, election, or runoff, 1960 including provisional ballots cast; (2) The number of ballots cast at advance voting locations during the advance voting period for the primary, election, or runoff; and (3) The total number of absentee ballots returned to the board of registrars by the deadline to receive such absentee ballots on the day of the primary, election, or runoff. (b) Upon the completion of the report provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section, the election superintendent shall compare the total number of ballots received as reported in subsection (a) of this Code section and the counting of the ballots in the primary, election, or runoff minus any rejected and uncured absentee ballots, uncounted provisional ballots, and any other uncounted ballots, with the total number of ballots cast in the primary, election, or runoff. The results of such comparison and all explanatory materials shall be reported to the Secretary of State. The reason for any discrepancy shall be fully investigated and reported to the Secretary of State."
COUNTING OF AND TABULATING OF BALLOTS. RUN-OFFS &
OTHER BALLOT/ELECTION ISSUES: Pages76-91
Pages 91 - 94 is "housekeeping" and clean-up of some issues about who can and cannot be around voters at polling places and some other minutia.
That is the bill. Sorry this "synopsis" is so long. It is hard to condense 94 pages down to just a few. I hope you will review this, my comments, and then read the actual bill beyond what I have here if you still have questions. I am amazed that anyone that actually reads the bill would have any real problem with any of it unless they wanted loopholes to allow illegalities around our voting.
I know it is very popular now to talk about count every vote. I agree. But, if someone that is not supposed to vote does, it cancels out a person's vote that did have that right. That to me is just as important if not more so. Making voting easy is a great goal. Making voting integrity easy is also.
I will end with a comment on our society - I think a large part of our problems today can be traced to the fact that we as a people have through our laws and regulations, determined that it takes more maturity to decide to buy an alcoholic beverage or tobacco product than it does to elect the next leader of the free world or our representatives in government.
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