Providing the facts and context that help readers understand the current debate over voting laws is a priority for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Here is a summary of Senate Bill 202, approved quickly on March 25 by the Georgia House and Senate and then signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp shortly before 7 p.m. the same day.
- Absentee ballots would be verified based on driver’s license numbers or other documentation instead of voter signatures.
- Ballot drop boxes would only be allowed inside early voting locations and available strictly during business hours.
- Weekend voting would be expanded for general elections, with two mandatory Saturdays offered statewide. Counties could also choose to offer early voting on two optional Sundays.
- Early voting for runoffs would be reduced to a minimum of one week because runoffs would occur four weeks after general elections.
- The deadline to request an absentee ballot would be set 11 days before election day.
- Members of the public would be prohibited from distributing food or water to voters waiting in line.
- The State Election Board could remove county election boards and replace them with an interim elections manager.
- A hotline to report illegal election activities would be set up in the attorney general’s office.
- Counties would be required to certify election results within six days, instead of the 10 days currently allowed. Election workers would also be required to count ballots without stopping until they’re finished.
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