{"id":252,"date":"2022-03-23T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/deja-vu-all-over-again-as-the-georgia-senate-considers-another-elections-omnibus\/"},"modified":"2022-03-23T16:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T20:00:09","slug":"deja-vu-all-over-again-as-the-georgia-senate-considers-another-elections-omnibus","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/deja-vu-all-over-again-as-the-georgia-senate-considers-another-elections-omnibus\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again\u2019 as the Georgia Senate considers another \u2018elections omnibus\u2019"},"template":"","class_list":["post-252","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Just like last year, the process has allowed little or no public input -- because if you don\u2019t have a lobbyist, it\u2019s almost impossible to find out what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s both sad and ironic that a bill directly affecting our freedom to vote is being considered using such an opaque process.\u00a0","featured_image":5062,"press_type":145,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7815}"],"related_issues":[100,106,109,400,402],"related_work":false,"location":13},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<b>Today at 5pm<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the Georgia Senate Ethics Committee will <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.ga.gov\/committees\/Documents\/ethics3.23.22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">begin its consideration<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/legislation\/62422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">HB 1464<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an omnibus elections elections bill. <\/span><b>Livestream<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the hearing will be available <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/showcase\/9076408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\"><b><i>Statement of Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It's \u2018d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again\u2019 as we watch this year\u2019s election omnibus bill wind its way through the legislative process. Just like last year, the process has allowed little or no public input -- because if you don\u2019t have a lobbyist, it\u2019s almost impossible to find out what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s both sad and ironic that a bill directly affecting our freedom to vote is being considered using such an opaque process.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today\u2019s version of the bill does some good things, does some really bad things, and doesn\u2019t take the opportunity to do something that\u2019s really needed.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First, the good: we support the bill\u2019s provisions that would allow for extending time off for employees to allow for early voting; and those changing the third-party ballot application disclaimer to make it less confusing voters. We also support changes to ease some of the reporting burden on overworked election officials, on election night.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bad:\u00a0 There are provisions that are ambiguous, as written, and ambiguity is not something the Legislature should be adding to Georgia\u2019s election laws. The bill would make it extremely difficult for local officials to access private grant funding for future elections. But it does nothing to replace the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.techandciviclife.org\/2020covidsupport\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than $45 million<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in private grant funding that was needed by Georgia\u2019s counties in 2020 \u2013 including counties like Bartow, Charlton, Lanier, Lee, Polk, and Rabun.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the bill includes a Peach State version of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis\u2019 \u2018Election Police.\u2019 Georgia\u2019s Secretary of State\u2019s office already has authority to investigate alleged violations of election law \u2013 and they\u2019ve done so, with hyped-up headlines but <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/investigation-finds-far-less-double-voting-in-georgia-than-alleged\/WAOLVUT7B5HYFI7KX5E6OZW75A\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">only \u2018a handful of isolated cases verified<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> by investigators\u2019 looking into double voting in the November 2020 election. But the Florida Legislature is now going to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/03\/09\/politics\/florida-bill-election-police-force\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">spend $3.7 million a year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on its \u2018Election Police\u2019 \u2013 and it looks like Georgia\u2019s Legislature is trying to \u2018keep up with the Jonses.\u2019<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The missing: voters will remember that many polling places ran out of emergency paper ballots in the June 2020 primary election; and if the Legislature insists on passing another \u2018elections omnibus\u2019 bill, they could at least address that problem by increasing the number of emergency ballots that must be kept on-hand.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">To be sure, we expect the bill will change in upcoming days \u2013 we don\u2019t know <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it will change \u2013 but we remember that in 2021, the final version of SB 202 was signed <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the very same day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it was unveiled and passed by both chambers.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We hope the bill changes for the better \u2013 to include replacement funding for the counties, to lose the \u2018Election Police\u2019 provisions and to require more emergency ballots at polling places. <\/span>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Download Common Cause Georgia\u2019s testimony today about HB 1464 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/03\/2022-03-23-testimony-HB-1464.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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