ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned there’s a new push by Georgia Senate Republicans to restrict advance early voting to just one location per county.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot learned that Democrats got wind of the move early Tuesday morning.
Senate Republicans took a voting-related bill that passed the House, stripped it, and put it back together again to include some controversial portions.
Even some county elections directors aren’t happy about the move.
House Bill 397 was once a simple bill that dealt with Saturday voting. But now Senate Republicans have tacked on a number of other provisions.
It would eliminate counties from setting up multiple early voting sites, instead requiring early voters to go to one centralized location.
Given that 71% of Georgia voters voted early, that’s a concern for Paulding County elections director Deidra Holden.
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“You know, that’s disenfranchisement at its best because our voters depend on that. Not everybody’s schedule allows them to vote on Election Day. Some want to vote by paper,” Holden said.
Atlanta Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves thinks the idea of limited advanced early voting to a single location leads only to long lines and frustrated voters.
“For early voting, that’s going to restrict the number of people who are going to participate in early voting which means more people will vote the day of the election,” Esteves said.
“I’m looking forward to 397. I think it’s got some good components. I know we’ve worked hard on that one,” Sylvania Republican state Sen. Max Burns said.
Burns said he supports what he’s seen of the bill so far, even the section on limited advance early voting.
But he admits, the bill is still a work in progress, and he wants to see the finished product.
“At the end of the day, I need to look at the current version. I’ve seen some earlier versions. I know that everyone is a little bit interested. We hope to get it out, hopefully this evening,” Burns said.
The bill would also require poll workers at each precinct to hand-count every ballot, a rule the Republican-dominated state elections board tried to implement last year but couldn’t because the courts intervened.
We expect a Senate committee hearing on this sometime on Wednesday.
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