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Georgia Statutes, Title 21

Georgia/Statutes

← All Georgia coverage

Title 21

4 chapters · 430 sections in this title.

All chapters in Title 21430 Ch 2, ELECTIONS AND PRIMARIES GENERALLY365 Ch 5, GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY AND CAMPAIGN…42 Ch 4, RECALL OF PUBLIC OFFICERS21 Ch 1, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS2

365 sections·Filtered byTitle 21✕Ch 2✕

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-436 Duties of poll officers after the close of the polls
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After the polls are closed and the last elector has voted in precincts in which ballots are used, at least two poll officers shall remain within the enclosed space. Before the ballot box is opened, the number of ballots issued to electors, as shown by the stubs, and the number of…
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-437 Procedure as to count and return of votes generally; void ballots
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(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 voter’s certiﬁcates, numbered list of voters, and electors list have been sealed, the poll officers shall open the ballot box and take therefr…
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-438 Ballots identifying voter, not marked, or improperly marked declared void
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(a) Any ballot marked so as to identify the voter shall be void and not counted, except a ballot cast by a challenged elector whose name appears on the electors list; such challenged vote shall be counted as prima facie valid but may be voided in the event of an election contest.…
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-439 Decisions concerning questionable marks or defaced or mutilated ballots

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Decisions concerning questionable marks on ballots or defacing or mutilation of ballots and the count to be recorded thereon shall be made by the assistant managers; and, if they disagree, the chief manager shall make the decision. History. Code 1933, § 34-1323, enacted by Ga. L.…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-440 Duty of poll officers to sign general returns; posting of copy of returns; delivery of copy of materials to superintendent

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(a) Immediately after the vote has been counted in precincts in which paper ballots are used, all of the general returns shall be signed by the poll officers. If any poll officer shall refuse to sign or certify the general returns, he or she shall write his or her reasons therefo…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-450 Opening of polls; procedure when ballot labels misplaced; certiﬁcation by managers; machines to be locked until polls open; officers to be near machines; inspection of machines; broken machines

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(a)(1) In the precincts in which voting machines are used, the seals of the package furnished by the superintendent shall be publicly broken at the opening of the polls and such package shall be opened by the chief manager. One card of instructions, one notice of penalties, one v…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-451 Execution of voter’s certiﬁcate; procedure upon qualiﬁcation of elector; elector unable to sign name; voting outside of precinct of residence; registration prerequisite to voting

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(a) At every primary and election, each elector who desires to vote shall ﬁrst execute a voter’s certiﬁcate and hand the same to the poll officer in charge of the electors list. When an elector has been found entitled to vote, the poll officer who examined his or her voter’s cert…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-452 Admission of electors to enclosed space; voting procedure generally; procedure as to write-in votes; voting by electors whose right to vote is challenged; disabled voters

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(a) No elector shall enter the enclosed space behind the guardrail provided for in subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-267 until he or she is found entitled to vote, after which he or she shall be admitted to the voting machine booth as soon as it is vacant and shall be permitted…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-453 Voter’s certiﬁcate binder as constituting official list; separate preservation and return of refused applications

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After each elector has been admitted to vote, his or her voter’s certiﬁcate shall be inserted in the binder provided therefor and known as the “voter’s certiﬁcate binder.” Such voter’s certiﬁcates so bound shall constitute the official list of electors voting at such primary or e…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-454 Duties of poll officers after the close of the polls

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(a) As soon as the polls are closed and the last elector has voted, the poll officers shall immediately lock and seal the operating lever or mechanism of the machine so that the voting and counting mechanism will be prevented from operation, and they shall then sign a certiﬁcate …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-455 Canvass and return of votes

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(a) If the type of voting machine provided shall require the counters to be seen in order to enable the poll officers to canvass the vote, the poll officers, in the presence of all persons within the polling place, shall then make visible the registering counters and, for that pu…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-456 Form of general return sheet, duplicate return sheets, and statement; posting of vote results; delivery of documents to superintendent; seal and return of electors list upon completion of vote count a

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(a) The general return sheets, duplicate return sheets, and statement shall be printed to conform with the type of voting machine used and in form approved by the Secretary of State. The designating number and letter, if any, on the counter for each candidate shall be printed the…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-457 Removal, storage, and examination of voting machines after completion of vote count

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As soon as possible after the completion of the count in precincts in which voting machines are used, the superintendent shall have the voting machines removed to the place of storage provided for in this chapter. The voting machines shall remain locked against voting for the per…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-480 Caption for ballots; party designations; form and arrangement

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(a) At the top of each ballot for an election in a precinct using optical scanning voting equipment shall be printed in prominent type the words “OFFICIAL BALLOT,” followed by the name and designation of the precinct for which it is prepared and the name and date of the election.…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-481 Design, size, and stock of ballots

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Ballots in a precinct using optical scanning voting equipment shall be of suitable design, size, and stock to permit processing by a tabulating machine and shall be printed in black ink on white or colored material. A serially numbered strip shall be attached to each ballot to be…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-482 Absentee ballots for precincts using optical scanning voting equipment

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Ballots in a precinct using optical scanning voting equipment for voting by absentee electors shall be prepared sufficiently in advance by the superintendent and shall be delivered to the board of registrars as provided in Code Section 21-2-384. Such ballots shall be marked “Offi…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-483 Counting of ballots; public accessibility to tabulating center and precincts; execution of ballot recap forms; procedure for torn, bent, or otherwise defective ballots; preparation of duplicate ballot

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(a) In primaries and elections in which optical scanners are used, the ballots shall be counted at the precinct or tabulating center under the direction of the superintendent. All persons who perform any duties at the tabulating center shall be deputized by the superintendent, an…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-484 Requirements for ballot recap form; delivery

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Upon completion of voting, the manager shall prepare and sign a ballot recap form, in sufficient counterparts, showing: (1) The number of valid ballots, including any that are damaged; (2) The number of spoiled and invalid ballots; and (3) The number of unused ballots. The manage…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-485 Responsibilities of poll officers

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As soon as the polls are closed and the last elector has voted in precincts in which optical scanners are used, the poll officers shall: (1) For central count optical scan ballots: (A) Seal the ballot box and deliver the ballot box to the tabulating center, as designated by the s…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-490 Hours of operation of office of superintendent and chairperson of county board of registrars on primary and election days; applicability to counties having population of 550,000 or more

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(a) Each superintendent shall cause his or her office to remain open during the entire duration of each primary and election and after the close of the polls, until all the ballot boxes and returns have been received in the office of the superintendent or received in such other p…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-491 Public inspection of unsealed returns at office of superintendent; opening of sealed envelopes upon order of superintendent or court

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The general returns from the various precincts which have been returned unsealed shall be open to public inspection at the office of the superintendent as soon as they are received from the chief managers. None of the envelopes sealed by poll officers and entrusted to the chief m…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-492 Computation and canvassing of returns; notice of place where returns will be computed and canvassed; blank forms for making statements of returns; swearing of assistants

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The superintendent shall arrange for the computation and canvassing of the returns of votes cast at each primary and election at his or her office or at some other convenient public place at the county seat or municipality following the close of the polls on the day of such prima…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-493 Computation, canvassing, and tabulation of returns; investigation of discrepancies in vote counts; recount procedure; pilot program for posting of digital images of scanned paper ballots; certiﬁcation

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(a) The superintendent shall, after the close of the polls on the day of a primary or election, at his or her office or at some other convenient public place at the county seat or in the municipality, of which due notice shall have been given as provided by Code Section 21-2-492,…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-494 Computation and certiﬁcation of write-in votes

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The superintendent, in computing the votes cast at any election, shall compute and certify only those write-in votes cast for candidates who have given proper notice of intent to be write-in candidates pursuant to Code Section 21-2-133 exactly as such names were written by the el…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-495 Procedure for recount or recanvass of votes; losing candidate’s right to a recount; rules and regulations

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(a) In precincts where paper ballots or scanning ballots have been used, the superintendent may, either of his or her own motion or upon petition of any candidate or political party, order the recount of all the ballots for a particular precinct or precincts for one or more offic…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-496 Preparation and ﬁling by superintendent of four copies of consolidated return of primary; electronic ﬁling; superintendent to furnish ﬁnal copy of each ballot used for primary

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(a) Each county and municipal superintendent shall prepare four copies of the consolidated return of the primary to be certiﬁed by the superintendent on forms furnished by the Secretary of State, such consolidated returns to be ﬁled immediately upon certiﬁcation as follows: (1) O…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-497 Preparation and ﬁling by superintendent of four copies of consolidated return of elections; superintendent to furnish ﬁnal copy of each ballot used for election

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(a) Each county and municipal superintendent shall prepare four copies of the consolidated return of the election to be certiﬁed by the superintendent on forms furnished by the Secretary of State, such consolidated returns to be ﬁled immediately upon certiﬁcation as follows: (1) …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-498 Precertiﬁcation tabulation audits

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(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) “Incorrect outcome” means the winner of a contest or the answer to a proposed constitutional amendment or question would be different from the results found in a manual recount of paper official ballots. (2) “Risk limit” means the l…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-499 Duty of Secretary of State as to tabulation, computation, and canvassing of votes for state and federal officers; certiﬁcation of presidential electors by Governor

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(a) Upon receiving the certiﬁed returns of any election from the various superintendents, the Secretary of State shall immediately proceed to tabulate, compute, and canvass the votes cast for all candidates described in subparagraph (a)(4)(A) of Code Section 21-2497 and upon all …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-500 Delivery of voting materials; presentation to grand jury in certain cases; preservation and destruction; destruction of unused ballots

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(a) Immediately upon completing the returns required by this article, in the case of elections other than municipal elections, the superintendent shall deliver in sealed containers to the clerk of the superior court or, if designated by the clerk of the superior court, to the cou…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-501 Number of votes required for election; runoff

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(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, no candidate shall be nominated for public office in any primary or special primary or elected to public office in any election or special election or shall take or be sworn into such elected public office unless such cand…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-502 Issuance of certiﬁcates of election and commission; Governor’s proclamation as to constitutional amendments

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(a) Governor and other constitutional officers. Upon completing the tabulation of any election for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture, or Commissioner of Labor, t…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-503 Issuance of commission to person whose election is contested; procedure upon ﬁnding that person to whom commission was issued was not legally elected; swearing into office of person whose election is

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(a) A commission which is to be issued, as provided for by this chapter, to any person elected to any office shall be issued notwithstanding the fact that the election of such person to any such office may be contested in the manner provided by this chapter. Whenever it shall app…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-504 Special primary or election upon failure to nominate or elect or upon death, withdrawal, or failure of officer-elect to qualify

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(a) Whenever any primary or election shall fail to ﬁll a particular nomination or office and such failure cannot be cured by a run-off primary or election, whenever any person elected to public office shall die or withdraw prior to taking office, or whenever any person elected to…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-520 Deﬁnitions

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As used in this article, the term: (1) “Contestant” means any person or persons entitled under Code Section 21-2-521 to contest the result of any primary or election. (2) “Defendant” means: (A) The person whose nomination or election is contested; (B) The person or persons whose …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-521 Primaries and elections which are subject to contest; persons who may bring contest

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The nomination of any person who is declared nominated at a primary as a candidate for any federal, state, county, or municipal office; the election of any person who is declared elected to any such office (except when otherwise prescribed by the federal Constitution or the Const…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-522 Grounds for contest

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A result of a primary or election may be contested on one or more of the following grounds: (1) Misconduct, fraud, or irregularity by any primary or election official or officials sufficient to change or place in doubt the result; (2) When the defendant is ineligible for the nomi…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-522.1 Rebuttable presumption of legal vote in contested election

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Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, for the purposes of election contests, a vote cast by a person who has been listed on the official list of electors for a period of ten years or longer shall be rebuttably presumed to be a legal vote despite an unsigned voter …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-523 Jurisdiction and pretrial procedures; notiﬁcation; selection and compensation of judge

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(a) A contest case governed by this article shall be tried and determined by the superior court of the county where the defendant resides, except that a municipal contest case shall be tried and determined by the superior court of the county where the city hall is located. A cont…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-524 Filing of petition to contest primary or election; procedures for service, notice, answer, and amendment

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(a) A petition to contest the result of a primary or election shall be ﬁled in the office of the clerk of the superior court having jurisdiction within ﬁve days after the official consolidation of the returns of that particular office or question and certiﬁcation thereof by the e…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-525 Hearing; powers of court generally

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(a) Within 20 days after the return day ﬁxed in the notice as provided in subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-524 to the defendant, the presiding judge shall ﬁx a place and time for the hearing of the contest proceeding. Such judge may ﬁx additional hearings at such other times a…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-526 Trial by jury

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(a) All issues of a contest shall be fully tried and determined by the court without the aid and intervention of a jury, unless a litigant to the contest shall demand a trial by jury at any time prior to the call of the case; and the court shall determine that it is an issue whic…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-527 Pronouncement of judgment; effect of ﬁnding of misconduct by poll officers; calling of second primary, election, or runoff by court upon ﬁnding of defects

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(a) After hearing the allegations and evidence in the contest, the court shall declare as nominated, elected, or as eligible to compete in a run-off primary or election that qualiﬁed candidate who received the requisite number of votes and shall pronounce judgment accordingly; an…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-528 Appeals from court’s determination on contest petition

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An appeal from the ﬁnal determination of the court may be taken within ten days from the rendition thereof as in other civil cases. The ﬁling of a notice of appeal shall not act as a stay or supersedeas. The appellant may apply to the appellate court for a stay or supersedeas, an…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-529 Liability for costs; methods of collecting

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The contestant and the defendant shall be liable to the officers and witnesses for the costs made by them, respectively. If the result of the primary or election is conﬁrmed, the petition dismissed, or the prosecution fails, judgment shall be rendered against the contestant for c…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-540 Conduct of special primaries and special elections generally

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(a)(1) Every special primary and special election shall be held and conducted in all respects in accordance with the provisions of this chapter relating to general primaries and general elections; and the provisions of this chapter relating to general primaries and general electi…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-541 Holding of special primary or special election at time of general primary or general election

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(a) A special primary or election may be held at the time of a general primary or election. (b) If the times speciﬁed for the closing of the registration list for a special primary or special election are the same as those for a general primary or general election, the candidates…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-541.1 Terms for all municipal offices elected at general municipal elections

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All municipal offices elected at general municipal elections shall be for terms of four years unless otherwise provided by local law in accordance with Code Section 21-2-541.2. Unless otherwise provided for by the municipal charter, municipal officeholders shall be sworn in at th…

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-541.2 Providing by local law for terms of office

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Notwithstanding Code Section 1-3-11 or any other provision of this chapter, the General Assembly is authorized to provide by local law: (1) For terms of two years for municipal offices, with the local law designating the offices to be elected and the time periods covered by such …

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-542 Special primary and special election for United States senator vacancy; temporary appointment by Governor

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Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the representation of this state in the Senate of the United States, such vacancy shall be ﬁlled for the unexpired term by the vote of the electors of the state at a special primary to be held at the time of the next general primary followed by a…