{"id":256,"date":"2022-04-02T14:45:49","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T18:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-releases\/new-anti-voter-bill-may-slide-through-legislature-on-sine-die\/"},"modified":"2022-04-02T14:45:49","modified_gmt":"2022-04-02T18:45:49","slug":"new-anti-voter-bill-may-slide-through-legislature-on-sine-die","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/new-anti-voter-bill-may-slide-through-legislature-on-sine-die\/","title":{"rendered":"New Anti-Voter Bill May Slide Through Legislature on Sine Die"},"template":"","class_list":["post-256","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"When the Legislature takes up SB 89 on Monday, we hope that the Senate Ethics Committee\u2019s reasoning will prevail over whatever special interests are driving these proposals.","featured_image":5062,"press_type":145,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7815}"],"related_issues":[92,100,105,106,109,400,402],"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":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.ga.gov\/Documents\/Agendas\/Special%20Committee%20on%20Election%20Integrity\/Meeting%20April%201.doc%20upd.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Friday<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a meeting of the Special Committee on Election Integrity was scheduled for the House dinner break, and then later rescheduled for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.ga.gov\/Documents\/Agendas\/Special%20Committee%20on%20Election%20Integrity\/Election%20Integrity%204-4%20Meeting%20Notice%20(002).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>8am on Monday, April 4<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the <\/span><b>last day of this year\u2019s regular legislative session<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. According to the agenda, the committee is scheduled to take up <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/legislation\/59310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SB 89<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which was passed by the Senate as a six-page bill creating the position of \u201cchief elections assistance officer\u201d within the Secretary of State\u2019s office. <\/span><b>Livestream of the meeting should be available <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legis.ga.gov\/schedule\/house\/AQIARgAAAxpEc5CqZhHNm8gAqgAvxFoJAGeQLC1kSDdIixjC7EHFmfIAAAJaYAAAANZQGGA2fqFiaHBHrewZqJ2eET4AAhdbceEAAAAuAAADGkRzkKpmEc2byACqACGGA2fEWgMAZ5AsLWRIN0iLGMLsQcWZ8gAAAlpgAAAA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>here<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this week, the Senate Ethics Committee stripped most of the language from an elections \u201comnibus\u201d bill, <\/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\"> \u2013 deleting language that would have created a new special law enforcement bureaucracy to investigate elections allegations. However, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-release\/senate-committee-strips-anti-voter-provisions-from-elections-omnibus-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$579,936 in new funding for the \u201cElections Police\u201d is still in the pending state budget<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last night, Common Cause Georgia obtained a copy of an 11-page <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/SB_89-_LC_47_1865S.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">proposed Committee Substitute for SB 89<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/SB_89-_LC_47_1865S.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">proposed SB 89 substitute<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>includes the new \u201cElection Police\u201d provisions stripped from HB 1464 by the Senate Ethics Committee, but with expanded jurisdiction<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u2013 under this version, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations would be empowered to investigate anything <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">which could create \u201cdoubt\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about the results of an election;<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">would authorize public inspection of ballots and other elections materials, after an election is certified;<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">creates new \u201cchain of custody\u201d duties for already-overworked elections officials \u2013 similar to, but less onerous than, <\/span><b>provisions stripped from HB 1464 by the Senate Ethics Committee after elections officials objected<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">; and<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">includes the \u201ctime off to vote, during early voting\u201d provisions that were in the version of HB 1464 reported out by the Senate Ethics Committee.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Based on the process used to pass SB 202, last year, <\/span><b>Common Cause Georgia expects legislative leadership to attempt to push this proposal through the entire legislative process on Monday. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last year, Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 202 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">just hours<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> after the final version of the bill was unveiled on the House floor. Read our statements<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-release\/house-passes-another-anti-voter-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press-release\/anti-voter-omnibus-heads-to-governors-desk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Monday is the last day of this regular legislative session.\r\n<\/span>\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\">I\u2019ll say it again: a rushed legislative process almost never leads to good public policy \u2013 at least, not good from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the voters\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> point of view.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Presumably, some partisan or special interest thinks it\u2019s a good idea to spend $580,000 of Georgia taxpayer money on a new \u2018Election Police\u2019 force \u2013 or the language stripped by Senate Ethics would not have reappeared in this last-minute proposal.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last year\u2019s rushed process <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/fewer-voters-used-drop-boxes-after-georgia-voting-law-limited-them\/WTCPBE7QH5HBBEJB37RSC3FQYY\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">harmed voters by making it much harder for us to use ballot dropboxes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to return our voted ballots. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to make it more difficult for Georgians to vote \u2013 and suddenly, it was law.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year\u2019s rushed process looks likely to cost Georgia taxpayers $580,000 a year \u2013 which will be spent chasing conspiracy theories, if anything and everything that creates \u2018doubt\u2019 about our elections is suddenly up for investigation.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It also looks likely to add to the burden on our already-overworked elections officials.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>The Senate Ethics Committee had good reasons to strip these provisions out of HB 1464.<\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the Legislature takes up SB 89 on Monday, we hope that the Senate Ethics Committee\u2019s reasoning will prevail over whatever special interests are driving these proposals.<\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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