Explainer: What are ballot questions?

Democratic and Republican ballots in the June 9 Georgia primary each feature a list of policy questions this year.

The questions are nonbinding, meaning they are only used to measure support for a policy and will not result in a change in law. The Georgia Republican and Democratic parties choose these questions for their respective ballots.

The Democratic ballot lists six policy questions in areas such as environmental regulation and voter registration.

The Democratic Party of Georgia’s communication director, Maggie Chambers, said the questions help the party figure out where their supporters stand.

“We absolutely take what they’re saying seriously, and this information helps us structure our overall party platform,” she said.

Chambers said the questions were selected based on the interests of state Democrats and to remind their base of the issues important to the party.

“These are not all of the issues we will be talking about, but they are issues that have been more salient,” she said.

The Republican ballot lists three questions.

The Georgia GOP declined to discuss its ballot questions.

DEMOCRATIC QUESTIONS

• Question 1: Should Georgians work to stop climate change and listen to the scientific community, which recommends immediate action to combat this serious threat to our planet?
• Question 2: Should Georgia enact basic standards to protect our environment from wasteful plastic items that pollute our state?
• Question 3: Should every eligible Georgian be allowed to register to vote on Election Day to make sure everyone can exercise their right to vote?
• Question 4: Should Georgia take partisanship out of the redistricting process and have an independent commission draw district lines instead of politicians?
• Question 5: Should our criminal justice system end the discriminatory cash bail system that allows the wealthy to buy their way out of jail while disadvantaging lower-income Georgians?
• Question 6: Should every Georgian that has served their sentence for a crime they committed be allowed to have their voting rights restored?

REPUBLICAN QUESTIONS