05 LC 14
8948
House
Bill 33
By:
Representatives Williams of the
165th,
Mitchell of the
88th,
and Williams of the
89th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to elections generally, so as to provide that the election superintendent shall
ensure that all ballots are counted before closing the election
superintendent́s
office after a primary or election; to provide for petitions to the superior
court to defer the counting of ballots under certain circumstances; to provide
for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections
generally, is amended by adding a new subsection (h) to Code Section
21-2-379.11, relating to procedure for tabulating direct recording electronic
votes, to read as follows:
"(h)
The election superintendent shall not close his or her office until all ballots,
including absentee ballots, have been counted after the polls close on the day
of a primary or election. If it is not possible to count all ballots prior to
closing the office of the election superintendent, then the election
superintendent shall petition in writing the superior court of the county for an
order deferring completion of the counting of ballots. Such petition shall
contain information including the reasons ballot counting cannot be concluded,
the number of ballots not yet counted, a proposed manner in which to secure all
ballots, and the proposed date, time, and location for resuming and completing
the counting of ballots. The
court́s
order, if issued, shall specify the conditions under which the counting of
ballots shall be completed and the security provisions which shall be made for
uncounted ballots in the meantime. Such petition and order, if any, shall be
filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county as soon as
practicable after submission to the court. This subsection shall not apply to
provisional ballots under Code Section
21-2-419."
SECTION
2.
Said
chapter is further amended by striking subsection (c) of Code Section
21-2-386, relating to safekeeping, certification, and validation of absentee
ballots, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (c) to read as
follows:
"(c)
Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, after the close of the polls
on the day of the primary or election, a manager shall then open the outer
envelope in such manner as not to destroy the oath printed thereon and shall
deposit the inner envelope marked 'Official Absentee Ballot' in a ballot box
reserved for absentee ballots. Such manager with two assistant managers,
appointed by the superintendent, with such clerks as the manager deems necessary
shall count the absentee ballots following the procedures prescribed by this
chapter for other ballots, insofar as practicable, and prepare an election
return for the county or municipality showing the results of the absentee
ballots cast in such county or municipality.
The election
superintendent shall not close his or her office until all absentee ballots have
been counted after the polls close on the day of a primary or election. If it is
not possible to count all absentee ballots prior to closing the office of the
election superintendent, then the election superintendent shall petition in
writing the superior court of the county for an order deferring completion of
the counting of absentee ballots. Such petition shall contain information
including the reasons ballot counting cannot be concluded, the number of
absentee ballots not yet counted, a proposed manner in which to secure all
absentee ballots, and the proposed date, time, and location for resuming and
completing the counting of absentee ballots. The
court́s
order, if issued, shall specify the conditions under which the counting of
absentee ballots shall be completed and the security provisions which shall be
made for uncounted absentee ballots in the meantime. Such petition and order, if
any, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the
county as soon as practicable after submission to the court. This subsection
shall not apply to provisional ballots under Code Section
21-2-419."
SECTION
3.
Said
chapter is further amended by striking subsection (a) of Code Section
21-2-437, relating to count and return of votes generally, and inserting in lieu
thereof a new subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a)
After the polls close and as soon as all the ballots have been properly
accounted for and those outside the ballot box as well as the
voteŕs
certificates, numbered list of voters, and electors list have been sealed, the
poll officers shall open the ballot box and take therefrom all ballots contained
therein. In primaries in which more than one ballot box is used, any ballots or
stubs belonging to another party holding its primary in the same polling place
shall be returned to the ballot box for the party for which they were issued. In
primaries, separate tally and return sheets shall be prepared for each party,
and separate poll officers shall be designated by the chief manager to count and
tally each
partýs
ballot. Where the same ballot box is being used by one or more parties, the
ballots and stubs shall first be divided by party before being tallied and
counted. The ballots shall then be counted one by one and a record made of the
total number. Then the chief manager, together with such assistant managers and
other poll officers as the chief manager may designate, under the scrutiny of
one of the assistant managers and in the presence of the other poll officers,
shall read aloud the names of the candidates marked or written upon each ballot,
together with the office for which the person named is a candidate, and the
answers contained on the ballots to the questions submitted, if any; and the
other assistant manager and clerks shall carefully enter each vote as read and
keep account of the same in ink on a sufficient number of tally papers, all of
which shall be made at the same time. All ballots, after being removed from the
box, shall be kept within the unobstructed view of all persons in the voting
room until replaced in the box. No person, while handling the ballots, shall
have in his or her hand any pencil, pen, stamp, or other means of marking or
spoiling any ballot. The poll officers shall immediately proceed to canvass and
compute the votes cast and shall not adjourn or postpone the canvass or
computation until it shall have been fully completed, except that, in the
discretion of the superintendent, the poll officers may stop the counting after
all contested races and questions are counted, provided that the results of
these contested races and questions are posted for the information of the public
outside the polling place and the ballots are returned to the ballot box and
deposited with the superintendent until counting is resumed on the following
day. The
election superintendent shall not close his or her office until all ballots,
including absentee ballots, have been counted after the polls close on the day
of a primary or election. If it is not possible to count all ballots prior to
closing the office of the election superintendent, then the election
superintendent shall petition in writing the superior court of the county for an
order deferring completion of the counting of ballots. Such petition shall
contain information including the reasons ballot counting cannot be concluded,
the number of ballots not yet counted, a proposed manner in which to secure all
ballots, and the proposed date, time, and location for resuming and completing
the counting of ballots. The
court́s
order, if issued, shall specify the conditions under which the counting of
ballots shall be completed and the security provisions which shall be made for
uncounted ballots in the meantime. Such petition and order, if any, shall be
filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county as soon as
practicable after submission to the court. This subsection shall not apply to
provisional ballots under Code Section
21-2-419."
SECTION
4.
Said
chapter is further amended by adding a new subsection (i) to Code Section
21-2-483, relating to counting of optical scan ballots, to read as
follows:
"(i)
The election superintendent shall not close his or her office until all ballots,
including absentee ballots, have been counted after the polls close on the day
of a primary or election. If it is not possible to count all ballots prior to
closing the office of the election superintendent, then the election
superintendent shall petition in writing the superior court of the county for an
order deferring completion of the counting of ballots. Such petition shall
contain information including the reasons ballot counting cannot be concluded,
the number of ballots not yet counted, a proposed manner in which to secure all
ballots, and the proposed date, time, and location for resuming and completing
the counting of ballots. The
court́s
order, if issued, shall specify the conditions under which the counting of
ballots shall be completed and the security provisions which shall be made for
uncounted ballots in the meantime. Such petition and order, if any, shall be
filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county as soon as
practicable after submission to the court. This subsection shall not apply to
provisional ballots under Code Section
21-2-419."
SECTION
5.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.