2:36
- ABC News
- April 7, 2021
Breaking down claims about Georgia's election law
People on both sides of the issue have presented the law inaccurately.
2:36
Starting at least 15 days before an election, vote centers must be open in Colorado and stay open through Election Day, excluding Sundays and the first Saturday, for voters who want to cast ballots in person. Georgia does mandate more days of in-person early voting -- 17 -- than Colorado, but Colorado also has a completely different, universal vote-by-mail system. Every active registered voter is automatically mailed a ballot ahead of every election without having to specifically request one. Under Georgia's new law, state and local election officials aren't allowed to mail absentee applications to voters -- which the secretary of state did for the June primary -- unless they request one.
Before the new law was signed, Georgia voters were already required to present a photo ID when voting in person.
But under the new law, voters now must have some form of identification to vote by mail and for most, that identification will either be a driver's license or state ID card, which is a photo ID. Republicans argue this is a more \"objective\" way to verify a voter's identity than the \"subjective\" signature matching process, which Trump repeatedly targeted while spreading election disinformation.
When applying for an absentee ballot and returning a voted ballot, electors must now include either their driver's license number or state ID number. If a voter does not have one of those, then they must include a photocopy of another accepted form of ID with their application. When returning the ballot, if a voter doesn't have a driver's license or state ID, they must note their date of birth and last four digits of their social security number; if the voter does not have a Social Security number, they must include a photocopy of another form of accepted identification.
During debate, Republican lawmakers said that 97% of Georgians eligible to vote have either a driver's license or state ID card, and it's true that Georgians can get a state ID for free. But critics of the law testified in hearings that the potential eligible voters who will face hurdles without a license or state ID number are also most likely to lack the alternative documents, like a birth certificate -- which is what might have kept them from obtaining a state ID card to begin with.
So, while photo IDs are not required per se, some voters could be barred from voting if they don't have the right documents or a Social Security number.
Democrats and voting rights advocates seized on this provision in the law. There are specifics around what's allowed and what isn't, but effectively, it bans \"line warming\" by making it a misdemeanor for any non-election worker to give voters waiting in line food or beverages, including water.
Electioneering was already banned inside polling places, within 150 feet of them and within 25 feet of any voter waiting in line. But this law added that giving or offering to give any money or gifts, including food and beverages, to voters within those perimeters is illegal, too. Poll workers are still allowed to do this and self-service water stations can be set up within the perimeter.
While it was not an issue on Nov. 3, long lines are a familiar occurrence for Georgia voters, most significantly in the Atlanta metro area. For the June primary, many Georgians stood in hours-long lines to vote and volunteers brought those voters food and water while they waited.
This is true, but the context is important.
In 2020, drop boxes were introduced to many Georgia voters for the first time. Under an emergency rule enacted by the State Election Board in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, counties were given permission to have secure ballot drop boxes, which were required to be under 24/7 video surveillance and on \"government property generally accessible to the public.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ballot-gty-er-210301_1614648295210_hpEmbed_2_3x2_384.jpg\")
Drop boxes were optional, and many counties opted against them. Since the new law requires every county have at least one drop box, some voters will have the option to use them for the first time. But for many voters, especially those living in the large metro counties that took advantage of the emergency rule, the rules around drop boxes are much more stringent now.
Unless the governor declares a health emergency, drop boxes must now only be placed inside early voting locations. Voters can also only access them during the early voting period when the locations are open. Because of the early voting period requirement, drop boxes will now be unavailable for the three days preceding an election and on Election Day -- the time when mailing a ballot back is riskiest because it might not arrive on time. There is also a formula to calculate the maximum number of drop boxes allowed per county.
During his press conference Saturday blasting the MLB decision, Kemp noted that he used a drop box in November, saying, \"You can do like I did because I was under COVID quarantine and didn't want to go in the polling location -- I went and dropped mine into a drop box. You can still do that. It's in a secure location now.\"
But since Kemp dropped his ballot in a box on Election Day, he could not have done so under the new law. Voters can still hand-deliver their voted absentee ballots to county election and registration offices, but those singular locations may be less accessible for some voters.
After the bill passed, Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo said the bill \"allows for a complete takeover of county boards of election and the State Elections Board itself by partisan politicians in the state legislature,\" calling it \"a disgraceful power grab.\"
The State Election Board has oversight over elections and investigatory powers, including referring potential election law violations to the attorney general or relevant district attorney.
Under the new law, the Republican-majority General Assembly does gain new powers over elections.
By a simple majority vote, the legislature elects three -- a change from two -- of the State Election Board's five voting members, and that now includes the chairperson. The secretary of state, who Georgians elect to office, becomes a non-voting member of the board and loses his chairmanship.
The State Election Board also gained the power to temporarily suspend county or municipal election \"superintendents.\" In Georgia, the county boards of elections, and sometimes probate judges, are the \"superintendents.\" This means the board could suspend the people responsible for certifying election results and transfer all of their legal responsibilities, including decisions over election personnel, to a temporary replacement.
","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Politics/breaking-claims-georgias-election-law-true/story?id=76897349","legacySlug":"/news/story/breaking-claims-georgias-election-law-true-76897349","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"09:01","publishDate":"04-07-2021","updatedTime":"12:58","updatedDate":"04-07-2021","socialImage":{"alt":"President Joe Biden visits a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary, April 6, 2021, in Alexandria, Va.","credit":"Evan Vucci/AP","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/Biden-ap-er-210406_1617735829690_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"4/7/2021 09:01:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":76897349,"headline":"Breaking down claims about Georgia's election law","mediaAssetTitle":"ELECTION LAWS CLAIMS FACT CHECK","description":"People on both sides of the issue have presented the law inaccurately. ","duration":"2:36","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/04/210404_gma_lopez_0812_net1feed_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["76865324","71045364","41463246"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"April 4, 2021","headline":"MLB pulling out of Atlanta may have caused $100 million in lost revenue","section":"news","slug":"/video/76865324","id":76865324,"image":{"alt":"MLB pulling out of Atlanta may have caused $100 million in lost revenue","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/210404_gma_lopez_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 12, 2026","headline":"Headlines from ABC News Live","section":"news","slug":"/video/71045364","id":71045364,"image":{"alt":"Headlines from ABC News Live","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/weekday_headlines_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"","headline":"ABC News Live","section":"news","slug":"/video/41463246","id":41463246,"image":{"alt":"ABC News Live","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Live/abc_news_live-abc-ml-250210_1739199021469_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC News Illustration","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Breaking down claims about Georgia's election law","description":"People on both sides of the issue have presented the law inaccurately. ","duration":"2:36","uploadDate":"04-07-2021","publication":"04-07-2021","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/04/210404_gma_lopez_0812_net1feed_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/04/210404_gma_lopez_0812_net1feed_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/breaking-claims-georgias-election-law-true-76897349"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Breaking down claims about Georgia's election law","pubTime":"05:01","pubDate":"04-07-2021","modTime":"08:58","modDate":"04-07-2021","taxonomyTags":"none","id":76897349,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Breaking down claims about Georgia's election law","mediaAssetTitle":"ELECTION LAWS CLAIMS FACT CHECK","videoId":76897349,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/breaking-claims-georgias-election-law-true-76897349"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/76897349","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/76897349","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};