Ballots in Georgia’s primary election include survey questions on topics such as securing the U.S. border and forgiving student loan debt.
Both political parties put nonbinding advisory questions on primary election ballots to gauge popular opinion, gaining information that could inform party priorities and messaging. The results of the questions don’t change state laws or carry any legal weight.
They also are worded in such a way that the parties generally get the answer they are looking for.
There are eight statewide questions on Republican ballots and nine questions on Democratic ballots. Some local political parties added extra questions. Early voting is underway before election day on Tuesday.
Republican ballots ask voters about creating a city of Buckhead, political speech on social media, ballot drop boxes and whether to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports.
Democratic ballots highlight questions about Medicaid expansion, universal pre-K, allowing voter registration at polling places and marijuana legalization.
Voters can view a full list of each party’s ballot questions on their sample ballots, which are available online through the My Voter Page at mvp.sos.ga.gov.
Georgia Primary May 24
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Party ballot question topics in the Georgia primary
Democratic Party
- Student loan debt forgiveness
- Paid parental leave
- Free pre-K
- Direct voter petition to place questions on the ballot
- Expanded child tax credit for families earning less than $150,000
- Medicaid expansion
- Increase early voting, allow voter registration at polling places and expand drop boxes
- Marijuana legalization
- Incentives for renewable energy sources
Republican Party
- Securing the border
- Public education money for private and charter schools
- Political campaign speech rules for social media
- Work visa requirements
- Transgender sports rules
- Ballot tampering enforcement
- Drop box ban
- Buckhead cityhood
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