ATLANTA – Earlier this week, Governor Kemp signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 189, which is an omnibus elections bill that was combined with HB 976 and ushered through the legislature at the eleventh hour.

The law requires unhoused voters to use the county registrars’ office as their mailing address, making it harder for them to practically receive mail. Other concerns of the impact of this law include: 

• Adding additional burdens for county offices
• Opening the door for even more mass voter challenges by expanding the criteria to sustain them
• Tightening the timeline that election offices have to count absentee ballots
• Adding new and unnecessary chain of custody procedures. 

In response to the signing, Aunna Dennis, Executive Director of Common Cause Georgia issued the following statement:

“This law will only cause more harm to Georgia voters. 

“These unrealistic burdens will leave election workers scrambling to implement the new changes with barely enough time before the November election. 

“The Georgia legislature ignored the input of election directors from across the state about these provisions and how it would impact their ability to conduct elections, continuing their pattern of imposing unfunded mandates in the name of solving problems that do not exist.

“Common Cause Georgia will continue to educate the public on this harmful law and the impact it will have on voters and election workers.” 

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