ATLANTA – 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:
Senate Bill 189 – Makes it easier to file mass voter challenges; eliminates QR codes from paper ballots; eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to get on Georgia’s ballot.
House Bill 1207 – Allows fewer voting machines on election days; requires poll workers to be U.S. citizens; allows closer access for poll watchers.
Senate Bill 368 – Prohibits campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
House Bill 974 – Requires secretary 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.
House Bill 1312 – 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.”
“Access to the ballot is at the heart of our democracy,” added Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. “This election ‘Frankenbill’ violates the National Voter Registration Act. We are committed to protecting Georgia voters.”
Republicans say this year’s election bills are aimed at restoring election integrity, citing claims of widespread voter fraud lodged by GOP officials after the 2020 election. Those claims were subsequently dismissed by courts that found no widespread fraud.
“What’s crazy to me is the idea that anybody in this chamber would be OK with a fraudulent vote canceling your legal vote or anybody’s legal vote,” Rep. John LaHood, R-Valdosta, chairman of the House Governmental Affairs Committee, said on the House floor. “Fraud makes votes not matter. What this does is make sure your legal vote does matter.”
“Our bill actually makes the process of challenging more difficult,” added Rep. Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia. “It actually is designed to clarify what constitutes a valid challenge and constitutes an invalid challenge.”
House Bill 1207 takes Republican-led efforts to reduce the supply of voting machines an additional step. After absentee ballot drop boxes were made widely available leading up to the 2020 elections because of the pandemic, the passage of Senate Bill 202 in 2021 limited the number of drop boxes.
The new legislation would give local election superintendents discretion to allow fewer voting machines on Election Day than current law requires, depending on the voter turnout they expect.
“The legislature ignored the input of election directors from across the state about these provisions and how it would impact their ability to conduct elections … in the name of solving problems that do not exist,” said Anne Gray Herring, policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia.
But Rep. Buddy DeLoach, R-Townsend, said he introduced an earlier version of the bill specifically at the request of local election officials in Glynn County.
“They and others experienced situations that required fewer ballot marking devices because of precincts with large percent of early and absentee votes,” DeLoach wrote in an email to Capitol Beat. “The bill simply lets them put the devices where they are needed. Local officials could already do that in all except statewide general elections.”
While both Senate Bill 189 and House Bill 1207 passed along partisan lines, Senate Bill 368 sailed through the Senate unanimously and cleared the House with only two “no” votes. To Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, prohibiting campaign contributions from foreign nationals was the most important of the election bills.
“This commonsense measure defends Georgia elections,” Raffensperger said. “Voters deserve assurance that their elections remain free from foreign influence.”
House Bill 974 was less controversial than Senate Bill 189 and House Bill 1207, drawing support from many legislative Democrats.
Still, some Democrats expressed frustration with the bill’s election audit requirements.
“We’ve done audit after audit. We’ve done study after study,” said Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta. “Our elections are secure. There is no widespread voter fraud.”
House Bill 1312 was forced upon the General Assembly by a federal lawsuit charging the current system of electing the five members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) statewide rather than by district dilutes Black voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
While the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals subsequently upheld the current system, the case forced the cancellation of PSC elections in 2022 and again this year. House Bill 1312 rescheduled the elections for 2026 and 2028.
Democrats complained the new schedule would let commissioners who normally serve six-year terms stay in office for eight years or longer. Republicans countered that they had no choice because of the court case.
While most of the bills would take effect in time for the November elections, a provision in Senate Bill 189 eliminating QR codes from paper ballots wouldn’t become law until 2026. That’s to give the secretary of state’s office time to develop new technology to replace the QR codes.
ATLANTA – A man serving a life term in a Georgia state prison has been indicted on charges of constructing and mailing bombs to two federal buildings.
David Cassady, 55, is an inmate at Phillips State Prison in Buford. He is accused of building the bombs while serving as an inmate at the now-closed state prison in Reidsville and mailing two of them to a federal courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, and a Justice Department building in Washington, D.C.
“Protecting our personnel and facilities is a fundamental role of our office and of our law enforcement partners,” said Jill Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “We also will take action against inmates who seek to commit crimes and harm the public from behind bars.”
Cassady is charged with making an unregistered destructive device, two counts of mailing a destructive device, and two counts of attempted malicious use of an explosive.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The indictment was returned by the April session of the grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia.
ATLANTA – A Fulton County Superior Court judge Thursday dismissed a bid to dismiss election interference charges against former President Donald Trump and 14 co-defendants on constitutional grounds.
Judge Scott McAfee rejected arguments that the indictments Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis brought against Trump and the other defendants last summer violated First Amendment protections of political speech.
“The Court finds that the Defendants’ expressions and speech are alleged to have been made in furtherance of criminal activity and constitute false statements knowingly and willfully made in matters within a government agency’s jurisdiction which threaten to deceive and harm the government,” McAfee wrote in a 14-page ruling.
“Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity.”
Trump and his co-defendants are charged with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State over incumbent Republican Trump.
Among other things, the conspiracy included a meeting by a group of Republican “fake” electors at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to declare Trump the winner in Georgia and a phone call in January 2021 in which Trump allegedly urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes Trump needed to carry the state. Trump lost to Biden in Georgia by 11,779 votes.
Several of Trump’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the case in the months since a Fulton County grand jury handed down the indictments.
More recently, McAfee dismissed six of the indictment’s 41 counts, including three counts naming Trump directly.
Last month, the judge also ruled Willis could remain on the case, rejecting arguments from Trump and several co-defendants that she should be removed because of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special counsel she hired to lead the prosecution. Wade subsequently resigned from the case.
In a separate three-page ruling Thursday, McAfee also dismissed two motions for dismissal filed by the lawyer for former Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and argues the case is politically motivated.
ATLANTA – Atlanta-based PrizePicks, one of the largest daily fantasy sports operators in North America, will move its headquarters from Buckhead to Midtown Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
The move to the Star Metals Building on Howell Mill Road represents a $25 million investment. PrizePicks also plans to expand its Georgia workforce by 1,000 during the next seven years.
“Georgia continues to be a driver of tech growth and innovation, attracting innovative companies with its unique mix of talent and infrastructure,” Kemp said. “Today’s announcement is a reminder of our strength in both welcoming new projects as well as creating an atmosphere where existing businesses can expand and thrive.”
“This move to Star Metals will help us create more high-skilled and high-wage jobs in our great city while we deepen our connections across the community,” added Adam Wexler, co-founder and CEO of PrizePicks.
A representative of PrizePicks urged the General Assembly during the recently concluded legislative session to include fantasy sports in a bill to legalize sports betting in Georgia.
Stuart Wilkinson, director of government affairs for the company, told members of a state House committee that adding fantasy sports could generate $40 million to $50 million a year in Georgia on top of the estimated $100 million sports betting could be expected to raise in the Peach State annually. Sports betting legislation passed the Georgia Senate but didn’t reach the House floor for a vote.
PrizePicks is actively hiring. Those interested can learn more or apply for openings at www.prizepicks.com/careers.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the headquarters project with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Invest Atlanta – the city’s economic development arm – and Georgia Power.
ATLANTA – A lobbying group representing the oil and gas industry launched a seven-figure ad campaign in Georgia and eight other states Wednesday targeting a proposal to tighten regulations on fossil-fuel emissions from passenger vehicles.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new rules on auto emissions last month in a bid to steer the auto industry and its customers toward buying more electric vehicles.
Georgia has made a major commitment to EVs, including Hyundai’s $5.5 billion investment in a huge EV manufacturing plant west of Savannah now under construction and a $5 billion planned EV factory near Covington that automaker Rivian has put on hold.
The American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers is fighting back with ads that will run in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Maine, and Montana urging Americans to contact their U.S. senators to support at least two measures to block the new EPA rules.
“The United States Senate has the power to stop President Biden’s unlawful policy banning most new gas cars, but it’s going to take both Democrats and Republicans to deliver on that and protect consumer freedoms,” the ad’s narrator states.
“With critical Senate votes on the horizon, it’s imperative that Americans are informed about the president’s gas car ban agenda and have the opportunity to contact their senators to make a difference.”
Six of the nine states where the ads will run – including Georgia – are considered battleground states for this year’s presidential election. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail this week to revoke the EPA rule if he is elected.
The new rule is aimed at making sure that within eight years, most passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. are either all-electric or gas-electric hybrids. The crackdown on fossil-fuel auto emissions is part of President Joe Biden’s agenda to combat climate change.
