Kemp signs Election Integrity Act of 2021
Featured Stories, News, Politics March 25, 2021
ATLANTA – Election reform is coming to Georgia after Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed the SB 202, Election Integrity Act of 2021, mere hours after it landed on his desk.
During his televised remarks about the legislation Kemp stated, “With Senate Bill 202, Georgia will take another step in ensuring elections, accessible and fair.”
He thanked Chairman Barry Flemming and Chairman Max Burns and Senate and House Leadership for their work on the issue.
Kemp also mentioned his fight to keep Georgia’s elections fair by investigating voter fraud and defending the state’s voter ID laws.
“After November I knew like so many of you that significant reforms to our state elections were needed. There’s no doubt there were many alarming issues with how the election was handled and those problems understandable led to the crisis of confidence at the ballot box here in Georgia,” Kemp said.
Kemp was the first to call on Raffensperger to audit the absentee ballots and did so four times.
SB 202 replaces signature match with a state-issued ID requirement and Kemp believes this will streamline the absentee ballot process. He added the bill makes it “easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Weekend voting will be expanded to two mandatory Saturdays and two optional Sundays. Ballot drop boxes will be secured 24/7 and security paper is required for ballot authentication.
“November 2020 election saw a 350 percent increase in the use of absentee ballots,” Kemp explained. “This obviously led local election workers to have to process far more ballots using a time consuming, labor-intensive, and at times arbitrary process.”
Georgia Democrats have been vocal about their opposition to the bill, calling it a power grab for a declining party that doesn’t know how to connect with a changing Georgia.
Election Integrity Act of 2021 does limit the power of the Secretary of State, removing the elected official as chairman of the state board of elections. The Secretary of State will now be a “nonvoting ex officio member” and the legislature will appoint the chairman. The state board can now oversee and review the performance of local election boards too. If a board is found lacking, the state board can appoint a new supervisor for that county.
The 90-plus page bill can be read on the General Assembly site.
President Joe Biden (D) spoke about the election reform legislation sweeping Republican-controlled state legislatures. He called the bills “sick” saying it made “Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.” He promised to do everything in his power to stop the reform efforts.
Other states with election bills in process are Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
https://www.gpb.org/events/news/2021/03/25/governor-kemp-news-conference
Update from the Gold Dome: Week Three
Community, News February 1, 2021
By: Sen. Steve Gooch (R – Dahlonega)
Sen. Steve Gooch
ATLANTA — With three full weeks completed here at the state Capitol, we are finally entering into a routine, with convening in the chamber in the mornings, followed by committee meetings in the afternoons. Since this is the first year of a biennium, all legislation must reintroduced and begin the committee process all over again. For this reason, it will be a few more days until we have the opportunity to vote on bills in the Senate Chamber. However, legislators have been kept bust with attending standing committee meetings, as well as holding in-depth discussions on the budget and other legislative issues.
One area where we saw some significant progress was with our Amended 2021 Fiscal Year (AFY21) Budget. On Thursday, after a full week of hearings, the House passed their version of the budget in the form of House Bill 80. The very next day, the Senate began to hold our Appropriations Subcommittee hearings to further evaluate our state’s most important financial document. As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, we heard in-depth reports from the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Department of Driver Services and the Atlanta-region Transit Link Authority. As more and more Georgians return to work, it is vital that our roadways and public transportation infrastructure remain safe and accessible. As the final touches are added to the AFY21 budget, we must ensure that our transportation networks remain a priority.
On Thursday, in a meeting of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, we were provided with a very informative presentation on the current state of broadband infrastructure in Georgia. In 2018, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 402, known as the Achieving Connectivity Everywhere (ACE) Act. An important component of this bill was for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to construct a digital map to help identify discrepancies between perceived and actual broadband connectivity across the state. In Thursday’s meeting, we received a walkthrough of this new map in action and the new tools available to pinpoint exact locations where rural broadband access is lacking. This will be vital in gathering the data necessary to develop a plan to expand broadband into those hard to reach areas. While more work is necessary, particularly in the form of substantial capital investment from our state or federal partners, this map, paired with Gov. Kemp’s recommended total of $20 million to go towards rural broadband efforts, is a great first step towards achieving our goal.
Next week, we expect a number of additional bills to be introduced and assigned to committee. Of particular importance will be a package of election reform legislation that will serve as the starting point to revamping how elections are administered in Georgia. We will work on these issues as we continue our deliberations on the AFY21 budget. If my office can ever be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out.
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Sen. Steve Gooch serves as Majority Whip of the Senate Majority Caucus. He represents the 51st Senate District which includes Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Union and White counties and portions of Forsyth and Pickens counties. He may be reached at 404.656.9221 or via email at [email protected]
Gooch previews 156th General Assembly
News January 8, 2021
ATLANTA – After Republicans lost the Presidency in November and two Georgia Senate seats this week among dozens of allegations of voter fraud, it’s not surprising that election reform will be the hot topic when the Republican dominated 156th General Assembly opens Monday under the Gold Dome.
Senate Majority Whip Steve Gooch told Fetch Your News during a phone interview Friday, “There are a lot of questions that haven’t been answered yet. We’ve heard many allegations of fraud and abuse in the system so we’re going to dig deep into our election laws and look at how we do voter verification of advance votes and absentee ballots.”
Gooch, who represents Dawson, White, Lumpkin, Union, Gilmer and Fannin and a small portion of Forsyth County, added, “ I believe personally it should be just as restrictive to vote early and by absentee ballot as it is to vote on Election Day. If you or I go to vote on Election Day, we’re required to show a voter I.D. I believe that requirement should apply to people who vote in advance or by absentee ballot. I think there will be a lot of discussion on that.”
Democrats can be expected to oppose any change in election requirements.
“Democrats will probably try to accuse us of trying to suppress the vote,” Gooch said. “But that is not at all what I would see us doing. I see us as trying to secure the vote and ensure that all votes that are cast are legal votes. I believe there are signs and allegations of voter fraud that need to be further investigated and I hope the GBI and Secretary of State will continue to cooperate by looking into those charges.”
Gooch said he had seen dozens of sworn affidavits signed by poll workers and voters who saw things that did not look proper. “They are due an explanation,” he said. “We have a responsibility to the voters of Georgia that our election process is legal. We have, in my opinion, lost the confidence of the tax payers and voters in Georgia when it comes to elections. We have a little work to do to regain their trust.”
Lawmakers were forced to make major budget cuts last year due to the pandemic but some unanticipated revenue gains in income tax and sales tax may provide an opportunity to restore some of the cuts, especially in the area of public safety and education.
Gooch said he would like to restore some cuts to the state’s reserve fund. “We dipped into that some last year, and we need to keep that fund healthy.”
There will also be some transportation legislation to address freight and logistics issues.
“We will look at ways to use rail more efficiently and increase their usage of our port to get that freight and get some of that freight shifted over to our rail system,” he said.
He also raised the possibility of creating dedicated truck lanes on the interstate highways.
“We’ve been working on ways to get trucks to and from the port through Georgia in a more efficient manner while trying to minimize the impact on our citizens,” he said.
As the 156th General Assembly is gaveled into session Monday, the Senate is made up of 34 Republicans and 22 Democrats while the House has 103 Republicans and 77 Democrats.