The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Kemp signs package of Republican bills designed to revise election process
The 2024 presidential election is now less than six months away, and Gov. Brian Kemp this past week signed into law a package of bills that empower voter eligibility challenges, require more audits and tighten ballot security.
The measures reflect Republicans’ latest efforts to revise election rules in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, when many supporters of former President Donald Trump said they mistrusted the voting process after he lost in both machine and hand vote counts. The new laws are:
■ House Bill 974, which requires watermarks on ballots, the display of ballot pictures online, more audits of statewide elections and technological improvements to verify the accuracy of text on ballots.
■ House Bill 1207, which requires election workers to be U.S. citizens, allows fewer voting machines on election days, guarantees close access for poll watchers and allows candidates to proof ballots for errors.
■ Senate Bill 189, which changes rules for mass voter challenges, eliminates computer QR codes from ballots, adds ballot security procedures and eases requirements for third-party presidential candidates to appear on Georgia ballots.
One election bill, Senate Bill 368, was among the dozen bills that Kemp vetoed. It would have prohibited foreign campaign contributions that already are banned by federal law and haven’t been found in Georgia.