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Panel amends, advances bill allowing municipalities to include or exclude Saturday early voting; committee changes opt-in language to opt-out
Summary
House Bill 397 would give municipalities discretion over Saturday early voting for municipal elections; the subcommittee amended the bill to make Saturdays the default unless a municipality provides otherwise, then reported it favorably to full committee.
The Elections Subcommittee considered House Bill 397, a bill that would change how Saturday early voting is handled for municipal elections. Presenters and committee members debated whether the measure would simply relieve small municipalities of an unfunded mandate or whether it would reduce voter access for people who rely on weekend voting.
Representative Tim Fleming presented the substitute and described the bill as an option for municipalities: rather than mandating two Saturdays of early voting for every municipal election, the draft would allow each municipality to choose whether to hold one, two, or no Saturday sessions. Fleming described the change as intended to ease a financial burden on very small municipalities that may see no turnout on those Saturdays and that often contract with counties to administer elections.
Committee members and public commenters raised concerns. Several speakers, including Lana Goitia Paz of All Voting Is Local, Cindy Battles of the People’s Agenda, and Rachel Lastinger of the ACLU of Georgia, argued that Saturday voting is essential for many voters who cannot leave work weekdays and warned that reducing mandatory Saturday sessions would reduce access and create confusion when county and municipal offerings differ in the same building.
Committee members debated drafting approaches. Representative Alalie moved an amendment to flip the draft from an opt-in approach (municipalities must opt in to Saturdays) to an opt-out approach so that Saturdays would be included by default unless a municipality chose otherwise. Legislative counsel advised that the change could be done by deleting "not" and the word "any" in the draft language; the committee adopted the amendment and authorized legislative counsel to make conforming title changes.
The subcommittee voted to report the bill favorably as amended. Committee discussion clarified that the change would apply only to municipal elections (not county contests) and that municipalities may change their choice each election cycle. Supporters said the measure would reduce costs for small municipalities and save staff time; opponents urged additional funding for elections instead of reducing options for voters.
