MEDIA STATEMENT: Last Day of Georgia’s Legislative Session Brings Funding Restrictions to Election Departments

ATLANTA — On the final day of Georgia’s legislative session, Georgia Senators gave approval, by a vote of 32-21, to a concerning bill that will restrict county election departments from receiving outside funding. 

The bill is now headed to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature into law. 

S.B. 222 was opposed by Common Cause Georgia, and would prevent election departments from accessing needed funding streams. This will happen as Georgia election workers contend with vastly increased workloads from the rise in mass voter challenges and additional anti-voter measures enacted by the legislature. 

Statement from Aunna Dennis, Common Cause Georgia’s Executive Director 

Georgia lawmakers failed to do what the people of this state hired them to do by failing to fund our election departments at levels that would allow  each and every eligible voter in Georgia to participate in our democracy without barriers. 

Instead, Georgia lawmakers spent the last day of their session tying the hands of local election departments from accepting uncontroversial and helpful outside funding. 

This will unnecessarily cut off potential funding streams for underfunded and stretched election offices as we head into a presidential election next year. Not only that, the legislature decided to make it a felony for any government employee to accept prohibited funding, a scare tactic to try and prevent election officials from seeking out even legitimate funding sources.

We keep heading in the wrong direction when it comes to how our democracy should operate in Georgia. Instead of seeking out ways to remove barriers to voting so each of our voices can be heard during elections, we are faced with more and more restrictive laws like this that will make the jobs of our valued election workers harder.