Thursday, April 8, 2021

The Facts on SB202 (GA's voting laws) - Don't Believe the Lies!

So many people are being given false or flawed information about the changes to GA voting laws I decided to provide the true facts. I obtained my information from the actual text of the bill, not from any other source. The link to the bill will be listed at the end. 

Myth: Restricts Opportunity to Vote

Pg 4 Lines 85-89

New legislation reads 9am-5pm, with the ability to extend hours from 7am-7pm. And any voter in line prior to the closing of the polls MUST be allowed to vote, so if you get there at 6:59pm, it doesn't matter if it takes 'til midnight (or later) for you to reach the polls, you will be allowed to vote. And extra weekend days are now required throughout the state, as referenced below.

Prior to the passage of this bill, more than 100 counties in GA had never offered Sunday voting. Many counties only allowed one weekend day to vote.

THIS BILL requires all counties to have at least 2 Saturdays & 2 optional Sundays to allow voters to cast ballots.

Myth: The Water Issue

Pg 71 Lines 1812-1821

This bill states that no one shall give food or drink to a voter WITHIN 150 FEET OF THE POLLING PLACE OR INSIDE THE POLLING PLACE. If you have made it that close & are suddenly dying of thirst, there will be self-serve water receptacles available.

(side note from me: the reason for this is simple, if a person in a Biden hat or a Trump t-shirt (just for examples) comes up to you in line & offers you a bottle of water, most people will feel grateful. The mind subliminally connects the kind gesture with the party represented by said campaign gear & that has the possible result of influencing who you vote for. Same if that person who gives you water makes some comment like "I sure hope ____ wins" - this is a common sense protection against electioneering, which is against the law across the country.)

Myth: Absentee Voting

pgs 47-48 Lines 1198-1202

You must apply for an absentee ballot. If your application is received within the time limit (this limit differs depending on the type of election, you want to know that info look it up), the board of registrars will mail you an absentee ballot. If there is an unexpected circumstance, for example, a person is in the hospital, & did not expect to be unable to vote in person, they can contact the board of registrars from 10 days prior to the election UP TO THE DAY OF THE ELECTION & the absentee ballot will be delivered to them.

Additional information: Application for absentee voting is available online or in person at the registrar's office. If the person requesting absentee ballot is unable to get their application either of those ways, the following people can be authorized to pick up the application for them - parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, child, niece, nephew, grandchild, mother-father-sister-brother-in-law (as long as the representing person is over 18) (Pages 35-36 lines 872-887)

Myth: Limits Locations

Pg Lines 709-719 

Areas where precincts have a large number of voters & still have people waiting in line one hour after the polls were supposed to close will be reviewed, & at the next election either add locations or reduce precinct size (by creating new precincts). This expands voter's ability to vote.

Myth: Drop Boxes

Ok first, you need to know that prior to 2020, GA had NO drop boxes. They were created specifically to address the needs of the state during the pandemic, & once the emergency pandemic rules expired, the boxes were eliminated. The drop box is specifically for delivery of absentee ballots. You also need to know that absentee ballots can be MAILED in via the US Postal Service. You don't even have to leave home.

That being said, here is the drop box text

Pages 44-45 Lines 1116-1123

Each precinct/registrar is required to have at least 1 drop box. Additional drop boxes can be placed for areas with 100,000+ registered voters, or to match the number of advance voting locations in said county/precinct. Additional drop boxes have to be evenly distributed throughout counties by population.

FINALLY

The ID Issue:

Yes, GA requires ID to vote. BUT GA also provides photo ID to it's residents for FREE. Not restricting anybody there either.

You can find SB202 here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20212022/201121

So there you have it, I hope I covered everything. If not, leave a comment. In fact, I'd love to hear comments from anyone who reads this!

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