Georgia Voter Challenge and Election Security Bills Signed into Law

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger praised Kemp for signing the election bill, which includes many provisions pushed for by conservative activists during this year’s legislative session.

“Georgia is already a national leader in election integrity and security, and we commend Governor Kemp and the General Assembly for passing the additional election integrity measures contained in this bill,” said Raffensperger.

Like the 2021 election law, these new laws will likely be challenged in court. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia said it would sue over “massive and baseless voter challenges.”

“This bill will force already overburdened election workers to spend time processing unnecessary election challenges,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. “As always, state officials should be working to make voting easier, not harder, for Georgia citizens. We are committed to protecting Georgia’s voters and will see the governor in court.

Fair Fight, the voting rights group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, called Kemp’s law “the latest bill aimed at voter suppression.”

“Everything the Republican Party is doing is about the 11,000 votes Biden won in 2020 – they are focused on finding ways to reduce the votes they don’t like winning and creating the conditions necessary to overturn the results that they don’t like”, wrote Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight, on racial plan for a racially targeted suppression strategy.

Kemp vetoed an election bill, Senate Bill 368, that would have banned foreign campaign contributions, already banned under federal law and unfound in Georgia.

The new laws strengthen the ability of conservative activists to challenge the eligibility of voters who appear to have moved, a priority among Republicans who say outdated registrations could be used for fraud unless they are removed more quickly . Few cases of illegal voting have been confirmed by State Election Board investigations, and voting rights advocates say legitimate voters have been targeted by challenges.

Activists have challenged more than 100,000 voter registrations since Georgia’s 2021 election law allowed any resident to challenge unlimited registrations in their county. County election boards have rejected most of these challenges, often because they lack sufficient evidence to prove that a voter is no longer eligible to vote in Georgia.

The laws also respond to conservative demands for increased access for partisan election observers, visible watermarks printed on ballots, and a possible move to stop counting ballots based on computer QR codes, unreadable to the human eye.

Additionally, digital images of ballots will be available online for public review, fewer voting machines will be needed at polling places on Election Day, and third-party presidential candidates will automatically appear on ballots in Georgia they also appear on the ballot in at least 20 others. States and territories.

House Bill 974: Adds watermarks to ballots, displays ballot images online, requires more statewide audits of elections, and uses technology to verify the accuracy of text on ballots.

House Bill 1207: Requires election workers to be U.S. citizens, allows fewer voting machines on election days, guarantees close access to poll watchers and allows candidates to check ballots for errors.

Senate Bill 189: Amends rules for mass election challenges, eliminates computer QR codes from ballots, adds ballot security procedures, and eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to appear on Georgia ballots.