Peach Tree Times

Earlier this week, Governor Kemp signed Senate Bill (SB) 189 into law. This omnibus elections bill, combined with HB 976, was expedited through the legislature.

The new law mandates that unhoused voters use county registrars’ offices as their mailing addresses, potentially complicating their ability to receive mail. Other concerns include additional burdens on county offices, expanded criteria for mass voter challenges, tighter timelines for counting absentee ballots, and new chain of custody procedures.

Aunna Dennis, Executive Director of Common Cause Georgia, commented: “This law will only cause more harm to Georgia voters. These unrealistic burdens will leave election workers scrambling to implement the new changes with barely enough time before the November election. The Georgia legislature ignored the input of election directors from across the state about these provisions and how it would impact their ability to conduct elections, continuing their pattern of imposing unfunded mandates in the name of solving problems that do not exist.”

Dennis added that Common Cause Georgia plans to educate the public on the law’s implications for voters and election workers.

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