Georgia Republicans approve bill to adopt new election rules ahead of November

[Valin]

The Washington Examiner

Peyton Sorosinski
March 29, 2024

Georgia lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that would give clearer guidelines for voter eligibility challenges, strengthen the security of paper ballots, and introduce new rules for qualifying for the state’s presidential ballot.  

Senate Bill 189 is a result of an influx of voter challenges in the state following former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, which he claimed was the result of voter fraud. Republican lawmakers in swing states have been attempting to tighten voting restrictions going into the 2024 elections. 

The bill clarifies “probable cause” in the event a voter wants to challenge their eligibility. “Probable cause” could be constituted if a voter has been registered in another jurisdiction, obtaining a homestead exemption in a different country, or giving a non-residential address such as a post office box, the Georgia Recorder reported. 

Any political party that has qualified to be on the presidential ballot in 20 states will have access to Georgia’s ballot, according to the new legislation. This would make it easier for independent presidential candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is required to garner enough signatures on petitions in all 50 states in order to get his name on the ballot. Kennedy’s super PAC claimed he has qualified to be on Georgia’s ballot. 

Some Democratic lawmakers were not fond of the “probable cause” provision in the bill, writing it off as another attempt to disenfranchise voters. 

“You know the policy of not negotiating with terrorists,” Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper said, per the Associated Press. “I wish we had a policy of not making laws to placate conspiracy theorists.”

(Snip)