July 1 is the day after tomorrow and the Georgia General Assembly swooped in just in time to meet a looming deadline involving elections. In particular they addressed that pesky QR code on the ballots. The deadline to remove the code from the ballots was July 1, 2026.
The Secretary of State did not do anything to remove the QR code from the ballot. His position was that the legislature never provided any funds to purchase a new system, so his hands were tied.
So, the legislature kicked the can down the road until January 1, 2028. The bill does more than just extend the QR code removal requirement.
The bill provides for the appointment of a 9 member committee to recommend the selection of an entirely new voting system. The committee is made up of 3 citizens appointed by the Governor, 3 members appointed by the Speaker of the House and 3 members appointed by the Senate Committee on Assignments.
A glaring absence in the makeup of the committee is anyone from the Secretary of State. In fact it has direct, “in your face” language regarding the Secretary of State’s role:
“Secretary of State in office on the effective date of this Code section shall have no role or authority in the selection, certification, or procurement of such new uniform system, including, but not limited to, the preparation of any requests for proposals, requests for qualifications, or other solicitations to potential vendors of election equipment to be used as a part of such uniform system.”
The memory of Secretary of State Raffensperger sending out unsolicited requests for absentee ballots to every name and address on the voter roll in 2020 will not soon be erased. In this case it is appropriate that the mascot of the Republican party is an elephant.
The special committee is to give a report to the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Secretary of State, and the State Election Board by January 31, 2027. The report is to provide sufficient information for the legislature and election officials to purchase and implement a new system in the 2028 election cycle.
In other action during the special session, there were nearly 100 bills introduced to reduce property taxes. These were by locally approved referrendums to increase the sales tax by one penny per dollar and use the revenue generated to give a larger homestead exemption on property taxes.
The majority of the tax relief bills were submitted by Republicans; however since they were local legislation, some Democrats, such as Patty Stinson of Butler and Freddie Powell Sims of Dawson joined with their Republican colleague to introduce the tax relief bills.
These bills required amendments to the Georgia Constitution which needed 2/3 votes to pass in both House and Senate and be approved by the voters in the November election. Regrettably, none of the property tax relief proposals passed. Democrats blocked every one. They did not want to give property tax relief by way of a sales tax increase.
Governor Kemp also wanted the Legislature to bring up redistricting but Republicans canned that idea. They saw no need to fire up the Democrats with a hastily passed redistricting plan. Expect one in the next regular session in January.
On another note, my new Kindle book, Shaped in Life’s Quarry, is officially live on Amazon! God prepares us in the rough environment of the quarry so we can stand beautifully in His presence—click the book cover below to get your copy today and explore the powerful truth of 1 Kings 6:7. If you are going through a challenge in your life right now, this book is for you.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
