Georgia lawmakers pass more voting rules ahead of 2024 election

William Brangham:

Georgia was ground zero for the false claims of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, and that state was decided by fewer than 12,000 votes. Georgia is in the spotlight again, as Joe Biden and Donald Trump head for a rematch.

But, as Laura Barron-Lopez explains, new election laws could add additional complications for voters.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

In the final hours of the legislative session last night, Georgia Republicans passed a series of new rules that now head to the governor's desk.

Among the changes to the state's election laws are making it easier to challenge voter eligibility, expanding access for independent candidates to get on the ballot, expanding use of paper ballots, and restricting who can serve as election workers.

Sam Gringlas is a politics reporter for WABE in Atlanta and is here to walk through some of the changes.

Sam, thanks so much for joining.

Let's start with the new rules to challenge voter eligibility. How do those work?

Sam Gringlas, Politics Reporter, WABE:

So this is probably the most prominent change in the legislation passed late last night. And this comes amid efforts by a handful of individuals to file challenges to the eligibility of thousands of voters at a time.

This has proliferated since the 2020 election. And these new rules passed by Georgia Republicans would basically lay out some really specific grounds for sustaining one of these challenges, things like casting a ballot or claiming a homestead exemption in another state.

Republicans say that these are guardrails, basically, to cut down on some of these superfluous challenges. But Democrats insist that these rules will only embolden individuals driven by conspiracy theories who are seeking to toss thousands, if not tens of thousands of voters off the rolls.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

And speaking of those who have been emboldened by conspiracy theories, there have been more than 100,000 challenges to voters in Georgia since the last election law in 2021.

Only a few of those have been successful. But what's the real impact of challenges like that?

Sam Gringlas:

Well, I think the biggest is that these challenges overburden already overworked election offices.

Georgia election law has been changed almost every year since the 2020 election. There are a lot of rules and regulations for election officials to keep up with. And each one of these challenges requires research and an adjudication process that election staff have to deal with.

And I think another ramification is that voters feel confused when they see their vote challenged. They have to go through hoops and hurdles to cure that challenge, to make sure that they're able to vote, because, again, most of these challenges end up being tossed without probable cause.

The secretary of state already does regular list maintenance, and that captures a lot of the folks who should not be on the rolls. So there aren't very many remaining that actually have grounds for removal.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

And some Republicans, but mostly Democrats, have been concerned about the effect of third-party candidates this election cycle. What's the change when it comes to third-party candidates? And what do you think the effect will be?

Sam Gringlas:

You know, this was kind of a surprise measure that was tacked onto this sweeping bill at the very last-minute last night. I was surprised to see it when I was flipping through, I think, the 24 pages of this legislation probably after 10:00 p.m. last evening.

And I'm still not sure exactly who slid this in here or what their rationale was for doing it. But I think the big takeaway is that, in 2020, the Georgia presidential election was decided by just under 12,000 votes. So, when you have a third party on the ballot, that can certainly play a role in swaying which way the election goes in a really tight race.

Now, just one note of caution. This requires a third-party candidate to already be on the ballot in, I think, 20 other states. And the example that we hear the most, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he has not reached that threshold yet.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Conspiracy theories and lies about election fraud have been front and center, especially in a state like Georgia. Do you think that this new piece of legislation will actually quell any concerns there for voters?

Sam Gringlas:

You know, I think this is a really important point.

Since the 2020 election, we have seen several attempts to revise Georgia election law. And in many cases, these moves have been driven by false claims about election fraud in 2020 that have persisted several years on.

We heard last night from one Democratic lawmaker who said that this is a bit like negotiating with terrorists to negotiate with election deniers, people that, no matter how many changes you make to Georgia election law, will maybe never really be satisfied as long as these conspiracy theories continue to persist. And it ends up being a bit of a vicious cycle.

So I think these next elections will continue to test the staying power of some of these false claims about election fraud that really emerged in the lead-up to the 2020 election and are still with us today.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

That's Sam Gringlas of WABE in Atlanta.

Thank you for your time.

Sam Gringlas:

Thanks so much.