ATLANTA – Georgians can request an absentee ballot for the November election by going online to a website Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office launched Friday.
Located at ballotrequest.sos.ga.gov, the website allows users to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them, which they can then return by mail or place in one of the drop-off boxes that were installed across the state ahead of the June primaries.
With the coronavirus pandemic raging, Georgians voted by mail in record numbers in June and are expected to do so again in November. Many of those who waited to vote in person in June were forced to wait in long, socially distanced lines that in some cases took hours.
Raffensperger’s office sent request forms for absentee ballots to every registered voter in Georgia ahead of the primaries. But he decided not to do that ahead of the November election after fellow Republicans, including House Speaker David Ralston, complained the practice could encourage fraud.
The secretary of state responded by developing the website to make it easy for Georgians who want to vote through the mail to request an absentee ballot.
The agency also expects to realize huge savings by using the website rather than paying the postage to mail absentee ballot request forms to about 7 million registered voters.
When a voter clicks on the website, he or she is prompted to supply personal data including name, date of birth and home county. The data then goes to the appropriate county elections office, which sends out the absentee ballot.
The new system has been put through several weeks of testing by cybersecurity experts working with the secretary of state’s office.
Voters who wish to cast absentee ballots are being asked not to procrastinate. The U.S. Postal Service is asking voters to allow 15 days for delivery each way.
The voter registration deadline is Oct. 5. Voters can check their registration status online at mvp.sos.ga.gov.
ATLANTA – Initial unemployment claims in Georgia fell below 100,000 last week for the fifth week in a row, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
For the week ending Aug. 22, 56,768 jobless Georgians filed first-time unemployment claims, down 1,331 from the previous week.
Since March 21, the labor department has processed more than 3.5 million initial unemployment claims, more than during the last eight years combined.
In the latest development, the agency has begun creating a system to handle claims filed under the new federal Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program, which will replace an initiative that had been providing unemployed workers $600 per week until it expired at the end of last month.
Certification requirements for the LWA are different than those for the earlier program, which will require the labor department to develop a new computer system to administer payments, a process the agency anticipates will take three to four weeks.
“We are working as quickly as possible to build an application to meet the new … guidelines to process these weekly supplements,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday. “I am thankful we have an IT and [Unemployment Insurance] team that is able to interpret extensive federal guidelines and develop a system that will support the specifications these systems demand.”
The new program will provide weekly supplements of $300 to unemployed Georgians. Congress failed to reach agreement on legislation renewing the earlier program at the $600 level before it expired, prompting President Donald Trump to announce the LWA earlier this month, to be funded with up to $44 billion drawn from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
However, the LWA initially is providing benefits for just three weeks. After that, states must reapply weekly for more funding.
Democrats in the Georgia House of Representatives complained this week that the state’s backlog of unprocessed unemployment claims is unacceptable and called on Gov. Brian Kemp to boost staffing at the labor department to speed up the processing of claims.
But Butler said simply hiring temporary workers lacking experience in the complexities of handling unemployment claims wouldn’t solve the problem.
“Our big issue is not processing claims,” Butler said Thursday. “Besides fraud, it’s dealing with appeals and redeterminations. … You cannot program a computer to do that. It takes a very experienced, well-trained [Department of Labor] person.”
To combat a huge increase in fraud that has accompanied the exponential growth in claims, the labor department is trotting out a new tool. The department has formed a partnership with the nationally recognized program ID.me to provide a complete online verification program.
ID.me is free for claimants to identify themselves, including a video chat with trained staff members.
“This money is taxpayers’ money,” Butler said. “It’s our job to protect this money. … We are working with state and federal law enforcement to go after these cases. We’re hoping to see some arrests and stop this.”
Since March 21, the accommodation and food services job sector has accounted for the most first-time unemployment claims, with 846,192 claims filed. The health-care and social assistance sector is next with 418,313 claims, followed by retail trade with 383,556.
More than 136,000 jobs are listed online at EmployGeorgia.com for Georgians to access. The labor department offers online resources for finding a job, building a resume and assisting with other reemployment needs.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s economic development agency signed off Wednesday on the first phase of the planned expansion of the Savannah Convention Center.
The Department of Economic Development’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to sell $70 million in bonds to begin construction of the $210 million project on Hutchinson Island. Savannah officials and the city’s legislative delegation will seek the rest of the funding during the next two years.
This year’s first installment already had been approved by the General Assembly as part of a $1.13 billion fiscal 2021 bond package.
The project will double the exhibit hall space to 200,000 square feet, add a 60-foot-wide hangar door, a new entrance with an all-glass façade, outdoor space, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, 15 meeting rooms and 900 parking spaces.
A second “bookend” hotel financed with private funds is to be built adjacent to the site, joining the Westin Savannah Harbor.
Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the convention center was frequently booked to capacity, forcing it to turn away larger gatherings that would bring in more revenue.
“This is a significant boost for Savannah tourism and development,” said Larry Hanson, executive director of the Georgia Municipal Association and a member of the economic development agency’s board.
“It’s a good investment,” added board member Jay Neely, a vice president at Savannah-based Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
Joe Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah, told board members Wednesday the groundbreaking for the project will take place this fall, with the expanded center due to open by the end of 2023.
In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, the board approved transferring the operation and maintenance of two of Georgia’s 11 welcome centers from the state Department of Economic Development to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Unlike the other nine welcome centers, the centers in Plains and Sylvania are not located along interstate highways near the various state lines, said Andrew Capezzuto, the economic development agency’s general counsel.
While the nine interstate welcome centers serve primarily as rest stops for travelers, the centers in Plains – the home of former President Jimmy Carter – and Sylvania focus more heavily on providing tourists with information about the historic sites located in the two communities, Capezzuto said.
“Plains and Sylvania fit very well within [the DNR’s] operation,” he said.
ATLANTA – Georgia will receive nearly $3.3 million from a multi-state settlement with Honda Motor Co. over allegations the carmaker concealed safety issues stemming from defective front airbags, Attorney General Chris Carr announced Tuesday.
The airbag systems were designed and manufactured by Takata Corp., a long-time Honda supplier, and were first installed in Honda vehicles in the 2001 model year.
The settlement concludes a multi-state investigation into Honda’s alleged failure to inform regulators and consumers that the frontal airbags posed a significant risk of rupture, which could cause metal fragments to fly into the passenger compartments of many Honda and Acura vehicles. The ruptures have resulted in at least 14 deaths and more than 200 injuries in the United States alone.
“Marketing its vehicles as safe, despite numerous signs that these airbags posed a significant threat to consumers, was wrong,” Carr said. “Our office will remain vigilant as we continue to protect Georgians from unlawful actions that pose a threat to their health and safety.”
The settlement, which totaled $85.1 million, was reached between Honda and the attorneys general of 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The plaintiffs claimed Honda engineers suspected that the airbags’ propellant – ammonium nitrate – could burn aggressively and cause the inflator to burst.
Despite these concerns, Honda delayed warning consumers or automobile safety officials, even as it began partial recalls of affected vehicles in 2008 and 2009. Further, Honda continued to represent to consumers that its vehicles, including its airbags, were safe.
Since 2008, Honda has recalled 12.9 million Honda and Acura vehicles equipped with the suspect inflators.
Under the consent judgment, to be filed in Fulton County Superior Court, Honda has agreed to the following requirements:
Ensure that future airbag designs include “fail-safe” features to protect passengers in the event the inflator ruptures.
Adopt changes to its procurement process for new frontal airbags, to ensure that its suppliers have the appropriate industry certifications and satisfy key industry performance standards.
Implement recurrence prevention procedures designed to prevent defective airbags in the future.
Abide by prohibitions on misleading advertisements and point-of-sale representations regarding the safety of Honda vehicles, including the airbags.
Make improvements in critical areas such as risk management, quality control, supplier oversight, training and certifications, and implementing mandatory whistleblower protections.
Consumers who own a Honda or Acura vehicle are strongly encouraged to visit Honda’s airbag recall website at https://hondaairbaginfo.com, or call its Customer Service toll-free number at (888) 234-2138, to see if their vehicle is subject to a recall.
ATLANTA – Georgia State University has set records for the largest enrollment and largest freshman class in its history.
More than 54,000 students signed up for the fall semester at Georgia State, with more than 5,200 freshmen entering the downtown Atlanta campus. The previous records were set last year with more than 53,000 students and 4,600 freshmen.
“This is the first time in Georgia State history we have topped 5,000 students in our fall freshman bachelor’s class,” said Timothy M. Renick, senior vice president for student success at Georgia State.
“While some may find it surprising that Georgia State is setting enrollment records during a pandemic, the value of a college education has never been higher and with all the flexibility we provide, Georgia State has never been a more attractive option.”
Meanwhile, more than 2,500 freshmen are starting classes at Georgia State’s Perimeter College campuses. Since Georgia State’s consolidation with Georgia Perimeter College in 2016, graduation rates at the two-year school have tripled.
Overall, Georgia State awarded more than 10,500 degrees in the last academic year, another record that surpasses the previous high of 10,200 in 2019. Those students completed their last semester taking their classes online after the spread of COVID-19 prompted the University System of Georgia to shut down in-person instruction.
Incoming freshmen at the Atlanta campus scored an average high school grade point average of 3.54, also a record.
The university also set all-time highs for the number of Black and Hispanic students enrolled as freshmen, up 5 percent and 2 percent, respectively, over last year’s record highs.
Georgia State students hail from 49 states and more than 167 nations and territories.
