Mathews & Maxwell, Inc. Governmental Affairs Consulting Terry Mathews: 404-310-4173
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[email protected] The following information is intended for the sole use of the clients of Mathews & Maxwell, Inc. Please contact the principals above to learn more about the services of the firm. Weekly Legislative Report #10 Week Ending March 19, 2021 Omnibus Elections Bill Being Crafted As we predicted last week, changes to Georgia’s election law seems increasingly likely to be addressed in an omnibus bill. Subject to change, that bill appears to be SB 202 that started its journey as a two-pager and is now in the House . or HB 531 that is now in the Senate. Substitute bills aren’t posted until they pass a committee, so the language is not yet available on the General Assembly website. However, legislators say the SB 202 sub is 93 pages long and the HB 531 sub contains 40-plus pages. Based on a presentation by House Special Committee on Election Integrity Chair Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) last week, some major changes are in the works. Among them, it appears Republicans are relenting on weekend voting with language requiring Saturday voting for two weekends during the advance voting period, plus the local option to conduct advance voting on up to two Sundays. Also, drop boxes for absentee voting could be placed outside during declared emergencies, rather than inside of buildings. Absentee voting without an excuse is back in right now, but rest assured, election legislation will very much remain a work in progress until adjournment sine die.