The GOP-controlled Georgia legislature on Thursday passed a wide-ranging elections measure that would expand access for candidates to appear on the state’s presidential ballot and would broaden abilities to challenge voter eligibility.
The House and Senate passed Senate Bill 189, which combined several previously separate election bills, sending it to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk. It was passed as the state’s two-year legislative session ended Friday.
The legislation could have immediate implications for the 2024 presidential election in the crucial battleground state.
Under the bill, any political party or political body could qualify for the presidential ballot if it already has gained access to the ballot in at least 20 states or territories.
The new provision could help independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is trying to appear on the ballot in all 50 states this November. He has so far only collected enough signatures to qualify on about a handful of ballots including Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire and Utah.
All of Georgia’s unhoused people will need to redo their voter registrations to comply with the law, too, as a provision in the bill requires those without a permanent address to register at the registrar’s office in the county where they reside. Previously, registered voters without permanent addresses have registered at shelters or government offices, including courthouses.
The bill also includes provisions that may make it easier for amateur voter fraud hunters to successfully challenge other voters’ registrations, by listing out details on what would substantiate the “probable cause” needed to uphold such a challenge.
Probable cause can now include an elector being registered at a nonresidential address as confirmed or listed by or in a government office, database, website, or publicly available sources derived solely from such government sources. A voter’s appearance in the USPS change-of-address database is not evidence…
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