Kemp signs Gop-backed election bill

ATLANTA — Local elections offices in Georgia will not be allowed to receive private donations under controversial legislation Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Wednesday, May 3.

Senate Bill 222, which the General Assembly’s Republican majorities passed along party lines, was prompted by complaints that out-of-state private funds have been flowing into elections offices in large Democratic counties across the country, including a $350 million contribution by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the nonprofit Center for Technology and Civic Life.

Legislative Democrats charged the bill was aimed at denying the financial assistance already resource-poor elections offices need to run their elections smoothly. Without the ability to receive private donations themselves, the measure’s opponents argued, local elections offices will be forced to rely on the State Election Board to allocate private dollars.

Kemp signed 13 other bills into law Wednesday, May 3, including legislation to:

♦ require cities and counties to enforce local ordinances prohibiting homeless people from camping and sleeping in public areas. Democrats opposed the Republican-backed bill as a blow against local control.

♦ authorize financial advisors to delay transactions involving their elderly or disabled clients if they suspect fraud.

“Georgia law now grants financial institutions the ability to slow down and verify transactions involving the accounts of elderly and at-risk Georgians,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “This proactive measure against fraud was my key legislative priority of the past legislative session.”