Legislator introduces bill to eliminate ballot drop boxes in Georgia
ATLANTA - A Georgia legislator introduced a bill that could eliminate absentee ballot drop boxes in Georgia.
Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller. R-Gainesville, introduced Senate Bill 325, which would ban the use of ballot drop boxes in Georgia.
Currently, counties would be required to have at least one absentee ballot dropbox, but cannot have more than one box per 100,000 active registered voters or the number of advance voting locations in the county, whichever is less.
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"This is the next step in our fight to restore Georgians’ faith in our election systems," said Sen. Miller. "Drop boxes were introduced as an emergency measure during the pandemic, but many counties did not follow the security guidelines in place, such as the requirement for camera surveillance on every drop box. Moving forward, we can return to a pre-pandemic normal of voting in person. Removing drop boxes will help rebuild the trust that has been lost. Many see them as the weak link when it comes to securing our elections against fraud. For the small number of Georgians who need to vote absentee, that will remain as easy and accessible as it was before 2020."
Miller announced his candidacy in the race for Georgia lieutenant governor after Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced he would not seek a second term.
Georgia’s state election board in April 2020 approved absentee ballot drop boxes for the state’s June primary elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The board voted unanimously to extend that rule through November.
Miller presided over the senate vote on SB 202, the election reform bill.
"I'm proud of it," said Miller. "Republicans and Democrats were asking for election reform and we have election reform that builds confidence, gives trust and transparency to our election process."