Just a few days before it was widely reported that he will be subpoenaed to testify in the Mark Meadows elections interference case, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a federal judge had upheld most of the measures in Georgia’s recent Election Integrity Act. “Ballot harvesting” will continue to be banned, drop box security requirements will remain in place and the ban on food, and drinks or other gifts within 150 feet of a polling place are banned.
“Georgia continues to have one of the most secure and accessible voting systems in the country for all voters, including voters with disabilities,” said Raffensperger. “I am glad that the court upheld Georgia’s common sense rules banning ballot harvesting and securing absentee ballot drop boxes. Georgia’s voting system is accessible to all voters, with multiple options for voters to choose how they want to exercise their right to vote.”
The ACLU and other groups had argued that the ballot harvesting and drop box measures violated the Americans with Disabilities Act but the court disagreed. The court also disagreed with the state however that food or drinks could be given to voters in line to vote, as long as it was further than 150 feet from a polling place. For most of the state, that is not an issue but in denser areas, such as Atlanta, lines occasionally snake away further than 150 feet. As the Secretary of State’s office points out, the average wait time on Election Day in November of last year was 2 minutes and 19 seconds – not a number that would cause a 151 foot line. The law than bans gifts in exchange for voting or voting in a particular manner remained in place.
“I am grateful that the ban on giving things of value to voters remains in place within 150 feet of the polling place,” said Raffensperger. “All voters should have the right to cast their vote in peace without being subject to potentially unwanted solicitations.”
In a perhaps surprising move, the judge did ban counties from rejecting absentee ballots that had an improper date of birth, despite state law that allowed voters an opportunity to correct this mistake.
“In a misguided opinion, a federal judge ruled that using a voter’s date of birth to help verify that it is actually the voter who is returning the ballot violates the Civil Rights Act,” said Raffensperger. “Verifying that a voter who is not present is actually the person who cast the ballot is one of the most difficult and important things that local election officials are asked to do.”
Raffensperger’s tenure as Secretary of State has seen huge numbers of voters turning out. Georgia saw the largest increase in turnout of any state in the 2018 midterm election, with record turnout in 2020 and 2022. In 2022, the state set a record for day of in-person early voting. The state has also seen support for its election measures, receiving a top ranking by the Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.
