Every year, Georgia Republicans pass new “election integrity” laws they say are needed to boost voters’ confidence since the close 2020 election.
Now that Donald Trump won a clear victory, the GOP base is emboldened by his return to power and is pushing for even more changes to Georgia’s voting laws — this time, without the false claim that the election was stolen.
From hand ballot counts to an elimination of no-excuse absentee voting, the Georgia General Assembly could consider a wide variety of election proposals during the 2025 legislative session.
Conservative activists are also seeking to require paper ballots filled out by hand instead of touchscreens, stronger authority to challenge voters’ eligibility and new rules to certify election results.
“The 2024 election may be over, but the fight for election security continues,” said Field Searcy, co-founder of Georgians for Truth, a group that advocates for hand-marked paper ballots, at a November meeting of the State Election Board. “The state has still not addressed the core issues of our voting system.”
It’s uncertain whether legislators in the Republican-controlled General Assembly will grant the wishes of election advocates.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
“I don’t anticipate any major changes,” said House Speaker Jon Burns during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month at the Biennial Institute, a three-day session in Athens for new and returning lawmakers. “We’ll listen to the grassroots, and we may make some tweaks, but I don’t see major overhauls coming.”
Republicans have passed some election bills every legislative session since 2000, including a broad overhaul of absentee voting regulations passed in 2021.
Last year, lawmakers approved bills for voter eligibility challenges, more audits and an eventual move to end counting ballots based on computer QR codes.
Senate Ethics Chairman Max Burns, whose committee handles election bills, said he won’t speculate on election bills and wasn’t considering any specific proposals yet.
But legislators are sure to hear many ideas from their fellow Republicans.
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said lawmakers should consider eliminating automatic voter registration at driver’s license offices and ending the state’s open primaries, where all voters are eligible to participate in either Republican or Democratic primaries without having to register with a party.
McKoon also wants a requirement for more advance notice before election offices open, a proposal that comes after some counties allowed voters to return absentee ballots in-person the weekend before Election Day.
“We have a lot of things that were on our wish list last year — which was a great year for election integrity — that remain on the list,” McKoon said. “The goal of these election integrity measures is not to get a particular result; it’s to increase public confidence in the process.”
Lawmakers could also take up unfinished business from the State Election Board.
Last fall, the courts voided rules the board passed shortly before the election, finding that the board exceeded its authority. Those rules would have required an election night hand count of the number of ballots cast and sought an investigation before results could be certified.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Some members of the State Election Board have also sought to end the right of all voters to request an absentee ballot for any reason. Currently, Georgia voters can vote absentee without having to provide an excuse such as age, disability or travel.
State Election Board Chairman John Fervier, an appointee of Gov. Brian Kemp who opposed the rules passed by the board’s other Republican members, said the presidential election showed they’re not necessary. He said the General Assembly should instead pass a law making it illegal to threaten election workers, including members of the board who received threatening emails.
“We had one of the best elections in Georgia’s history. It was without controversy except for a couple of small things,” Fervier said. “We don’t need any of those rules based on the election we just had.”
Republican State Election Board members who supported the rules, Janice Johnston and Janelle King, didn’t comment.
The Georgia organization of county election directors said lawmakers should focus on laws that would result in smoother elections.
The State Election Board shouldn’t be allowed to pass new rules within 90 days of an election unless there’s an emergency, said Heard County Election Supervisor Tonnie Adams, legislative committee chair for the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials.
“It was total nonsense what they were doing. It was a show unlike anything we’ve ever seen as election officials,” Adams said. “We’d like to see the entire rulemaking process changed.”
If the General Assembly wants to require a count to verify the number of ballots, Adams said it would be better accomplished the day after the election rather than on election night when workers are busy reporting results on tight deadlines.
Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper of Atlanta said she’ll pursue bills that would prevent new State Election Board rules from being passed in election years so local election officials have time for training and implementation. She’ll also seek to allow parents with small children to go to the front of the line to vote.
She said legislators should deal with real concerns rather than passing bills merely to satisfy conservative activists.
“The problem we’ve seen over and over again in election policy is responding to fears or made-up stories as opposed to actual facts,” Draper said. “By playing to concerns of voter confidence, you’re basically changing policy for problems that don’t exist. I would like to see policies that are tethered to real issues as opposed to made-up issues for political purposes.”
— Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.
The Georgia General Assembly begins its legislative session next week. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running articles every day this week previewing some of the action. Stick with the AJC throughout the session for the most comprehensive coverage in the state.
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