For the second election cycle in a row, the ground rules will be different when Georgia voters head to the polls in November.
The General Assembly passed the most far-reaching election law changes last month since 2021, when the legislature's Republican majorities enacted a sweeping election system overhaul following Democrat Joe Biden's narrow victory in the Peach State in 2020 and the capture by Democrats of both of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats in January 2021 runoffs.
The passage of most of the following five bills came primarily along party lines:
• SenateBill189-Makesiteasier to file mass voter challenges; eliminates QR codes from paper ballots; eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to get on Georgia's ballot.
• HouseBill1207-Allowsfewer voting machines on election days; requires poll workers to be U.S. citizens; allows closer access for poll watchers.
• SenateBill368-Prohibits campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
• HouseBill974-Requiressecretary of state to set up a statewide system to scan and post paper ballots at a minimum resolution; requires more audits of statewide election results.
• HouseBill1312-Reschedules state Public Service Commission elections following a ruling in a lawsuit accusing the current system of violating the federal Voting Rights Act.
Senate Bill 189 and House Bill 1207 have drawn the most criticism from legislative Democrats and voting-rights advocates, so much so that the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia has threatened to sue if Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signs Senate Bill 189.
The 12-section bill was cobbled together last month after many of its provisions had failed to move when introduced earlier in the 2024 session as separate measures. What opponents find most objectionable is a provision establishing probable cause - an easier burden of proof to meet - as the standard for filing a successful voter challenge. In 2022, Republican activists filed thousands of voter challenges in Democratic- leaning counties only to see local election boards dismiss the vast majority as baseless.
Opponents of Senate Bill 189 say they expect to see even more challenges this year once Senate Bill 189 becomes law.
“We are making voter challenges easier to bring and easier to sustain,” state Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, said on the House floor before the bill gained passage on the last night of this year’s legislative session. “Mass voter challenges do not clean the rolls. They hurt eligible voters.”
