O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40 (2019)

Creation of county board of elections and county board of elections and registration

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) The General Assembly may by local Act create a board of elections in any county of this state and empower the board with the powers and duties of the election superintendent relating to the conduct of primaries and elections. Such board shall consist of not fewer than three members. (b) The General Assembly may by local Act create a board of elections

and registration in any county of this state and empower the board with the powers and duties of the election superintendent relating to the conduct of primaries and elections and with the powers and duties of the board of registrars relating to the registration of voters and absentee-balloting procedures. Such board shall consist of not fewer than three members.

History

Code 1981, § 21-2-40, enacted by Ga. L. 1982, p. 1292, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 243, § 8; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 261, § 1/SB 456; Ga. L. 2012, p. 995, § 2/SB 92.

Annotations

Law reviews. For survey article on local government law, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 225 (1982).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS County residents’ challenge to a school board candidate’s residency qualification under O.C.G.A. § 45-2-1(1) and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VIII, Sec. V, Para. II, was barred by res judicata because another challenger had raised the same

challenge, and the challenge had been resolved against the challenger by the county’s board of elections. Lilly v. Heard, 295 Ga. 399, 761 S.E.2d 46, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 536 (2014).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Precedence of local law in selection of board members. - Local act creating a county board of elections and registration does not conflict with O.C.G.A. § 212-211 and it is appropriate to determine by local act the method of selecting the members of the board of elections and registration. 1986 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U8638. Nonpartisanship not required. - No federal law or regulation requires a board of elections or board of registrars to be nonpartisan or to provide for equal representation of political parties. 1986 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U86-38.

Membership of political party officers. - O.C.G.A. § 21-2-76 does not prohibit persons who hold office in political parties from serving as members of county boards of elections or boards of elections and registration. 1996 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 96-18. Petitions in Murray County under the home rule provisions of the constitution should be filed with the judge of the probate court, rather than with the board of elections. 1988 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U88-15.

Subpart 3 Municipal Elections Conducted by Counties

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1988–2026 · leading case: Scott K. Camp v. Ryan Christopher Williams, 314 Ga. 699 (Ga. 2022).
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Scott K. Camp v. Ryan Christopher Williams, 314 Ga. 699 (Ga. 2022). · cites it 4× “See OCGA § 21-2-40 (b); Glustrom v. State, 206 Ga.”
Lilly v. Heard, 761 S.E.2d 46 (Ga. 2014). · cites it 2× “”); OCGA § 21-2-40 (a) (authorizing the General Assembly to create “by local Act .”
Georgia Muslim Voter Proj. v. Kemp, 918 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “See generally O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40. 3 For example, within three days of rejection of an absentee ballot, Gwinnett County 5 Case: 18-14502 Date Filed: 03/21/2019 Page: 6 of 78 prevent the absentee elector from trying again, either by filling out a new application or by completing a…”
Nat'l Broad. Co., Inc. v. Cleland, 697 F. Supp. 1204 (N.D. Ga. 1988). · cites it 2× “§ 21-2-40(a). The General Assembly may also create a joint board of elections and registration.”
Gwinnett Cnty. v. Bolin, 414 S.E.2d 225 (Ga. 1992). · cites it 2× “The county board of registrations and elections is the “election superintendent” for this county pursuant to OCGA § 21-2-40 (a): The General Assembly may by local Act create a board of elections in any county of this state and empower the board with the powers and duties of the…”
In Re: December 6, 2022 Gen. Election Ballot (three Cases), 889 S.E.2d 811 (Ga. 2023). · cites it 4× “” See OCGA § 21-2-40 (b). See also OCGA § 21-2-493 (requiring county election superintendent to certify county election returns).”
Julie Adams v. Fulton Cnty. (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “” 3 The General Assembly has authorized the creation of county boards of elections and boards of elections and registration, see OCGA § 21-2-40, and joint city- county boards of elections and boards of elections and registration, see OCGA § 21-2- 45, to exercise the powers and…”
Fulton Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners v. Fulton Cnty. Repub. Party (Ga. Ct. App. 2026). · cites it 2× “Under OCGA § 21-2-40 (b), the General Assembly is empowered to create “a board of elections and registration” for any county.”
Lilly v. Heard (Ga. 2014). · cites it 2× “”); OCGA § 21-2-40 (a) (authorizing the General Assembly to create “by local Act .”
— 21-2-40(a) — 1 case
Nat'l Broad. Co., Inc. v. Cleland, 697 F. Supp. 1204 (N.D. Ga. 1988). “§ 21-2-40(a). The General Assembly may also create a joint board of elections and registration.”
— 21-2-40(b) — 1 case
Nat'l Broad. Co., Inc. v. Cleland, 697 F. Supp. 1204 (N.D. Ga. 1988). “§ 21-2-40(a). The General Assembly may also create a joint board of elections and registration.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.