We are only a week into the 2020 legislative session and two different bills impacting Georgia elections have already been filed. A bill pre-filed in the Georgia Senate would make Election Day a state holiday, and another bill filed in the House would codify the process of setting special election qualifying dates–a process that has been followed by state officials for about four decades now–into state law.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a press release recently stating his support of HB 757, which is being carried by House Judiciary Chairman Barry Fleming (R-Harlem). The bill codifies that the secretary of state can set the qualifying dates for state and federal special elections. According to the information released by Raffensperger, it further codifies that county election superintendents can set qualifying dates for special elections for county offices. It puts into law a 1986 formal legal opinion by then-Attorney General Michael Bowers that was requested by Democrat Max Cleland who was the secretary of state at the time.
According to state officials, this has been in practice for over 30 years, but HB 757 would make it part of state law.
“This is about providing Georgia voters certainty and order by putting into law what has been the practice for over 30 years,” Raffensperger said. “The last thing voters need now is another frivolous, politically motivated lawsuit based on muddled legal reasoning.”
The current process, according to information from the Secretary of State’s office, requires that “the qualifying period to be at least two and a half days and occurs no sooner than the date of the call of the election and no later than 60 days prior to the election for federal election or 25 days prior to the election for state elections”.
State Sen. Tonya Anderson (D-Lithonia) pre-filed Senate Bill 283 before the session began. The one-page bill would declare ‘the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November,’ more often referred to as ‘Election Day,’ a state holiday. Subsequently, all state offices and facilities would be closed on Election Day. Adding the extra day would bring the number of state holidays to 13.
The bill has not been assigned to any committee at this time.
Wording in SB 283 does not address the distinction between general elections, midterm elections, and off-year elections where local and county officials are elected.
According to reports, several states list the November Election Day as a public holiday, including Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, and the territory of Puerto Rico.
