Georgia Sen. Sally Harrell Files Legislation to Allow Counties to Permit Out of Precinct Voting on Election Day

ATLANTA (March 29, 2021) | This week, Senator Sally Harrell (D – Atlanta) filed Senate Bill 314 to give county election supervisors and local elections boards the option to allow out of precinct voting on Election Day making voting easier and more accessible in those counties.

“Every Election Day, thousands of voters go to the wrong precinct because of confusion with early voting sites, changes in polling locations, or poll books that have incorrect data,” said Sen. Harrell. “We can eliminate this problem completely by making it as easy as possible to get to a voting location.”

SB 314 seeks to address a measure in Georgia’s newly-passed elections reform law, Senate Bill 202, which would prohibit voters from voting provisionally when they go to the wrong polling location on Election Day. SB 202 only allows out of precinct provisional voting after 5:00 p.m. Out of precinct provisional ballots only allow voters to vote in federal and statewide races and take longer for elections officials to process.

Many Georgia counties allow out of precinct voting during early voting periods. By making out of precinct Election Day voting optional for counties, SB 314 recognizes that some counties may not yet have the broadband capabilities to make this option available to voters.

First Reader Summary for SB 314: A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to primaries and elections generally, so as to provide for registered voters to cast a ballot at any polling place, absentee polling place, or registration office in his or her county of residence; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

You can find a link to the filed legislation here: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/60743