Georgia GOP releases advisory questions for May primary
ATLANTA - When Republican voters head to the polls for the May 24 primary, they will do more than select their candidates of choice. They will also help steer the Georgia GOP to what issues matter the most to them.
On Tuesday, the Georgia Republican Party released a list of eight advisory questions that will appear on the primary ballot:
- The Biden administration has stopped building the border wall and illegal border crossings have dramatically increased. Should securing our border be a national priority?
- Education is the largest line item in the state budget. Should education dollars follow the student to the school that best fits their need, whether it is public, private, magnet, charter, virtual, or homeschool?
- Florida has passed a law to stop social media platforms from influencing political campaigns by censoring candidates. Should Georgia pass such a law to protect free speech in political campaigns?
- Two of the three current federal work visa programs are lottery based. Should issuance of federal work visas instead be based on job skills?
- Biological males who identify as females have begun competing in female sports. Should schools in Georgia allow biological males to compete in female sports?
- To prevent ballot tampering, state law prohibits political operatives from handling absentee ballots once they have been marked by a voter. To protect the integrity of our elections, should the enforcement of laws against ballot tampering be a priority?
- Absentee drop boxes are vulnerable to illegal ballot trafficking. Should absentee ballot drop boxes be eliminated?
- Crime has dramatically increased throughout the country including in our capital city of Atlanta. Should the citizens of residential areas like the Buckhead community of Atlanta be allowed to vote to create their own city governments and police departments?
"The ballot advisory questions, which were solicited from members of our State Committee, give Republican voters an opportunity to speak directly to important issues facing our state and nation. They also give party leaders and elected officials information on Republican voters’ priorities ahead of the midterm elections," said Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer in a statement to FOX 5.
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Brian Robinson, who is a Republican strategist and president of Robinson Republic, said the questions focus on the most hot-button issues for conservative voters.
"These are things that perhaps aren't first and foremost on people's minds day in and day out, but they are the kind of issues that people vote on and that's why you see them focusing on it," Robinson explained. "These questions are reminding voters in the Republican primary of where the party stands on these issues."
Robinson said the ballot questions will help the party and its candidates determine which issues are the most important to the voters who they want to show up and cast ballots.
"We're a 50/50 state and so that means that the art of persuasion is less important and the art of turnout is more important in this current context that we face in Georgia," said Robinson.
While he believes Republicans will overwhelmingly agree with most of the questions, Robinson said he will watch the results of the second question closely. School choice bills in both the House and the Senate failed to move forward this legislative session.
"So that's going to be the one issue that is perhaps the outlier where perhaps that cuts across the party and doesn't have universal support," said Robinson. "That said, I still think that that poll question will do extraordinarily well and it will give advocates for school choice a powerful weapon-- a data point to take to legislators in future sessions."
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