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2018 Georgia Code 21-2-409 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 21-2-409 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 21-2-409

TITLE 21 ELECTIONS

Section 2. Elections and Primaries Generally, 21-2-1 through 21-2-604.

ARTICLE 11 PREPARATION FOR AND CONDUCT OF PRIMARIES AND ELECTIONS

21-2-409. Assisting electors who cannot read English or who have disabilities.

  1. No elector shall receive any assistance in voting at any primary or election unless he or she is unable to read the English language or he or she has a disability which renders him or her unable to see or mark the ballot or operate the voting equipment or to enter the voting compartment or booth without assistance. A person assisting an elector shall identify himself or herself to a poll worker who shall record such information on the disabled elector's voter certificate showing that such person provided assistance in voting to such elector.
    1. In elections in which there is a federal candidate on the ballot, any elector who is entitled to receive assistance in voting under this Code section shall be permitted by the managers to select any person of the elector's choice except such elector's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of such elector's union.
    2. In all other elections, any elector who is entitled to receive assistance in voting under this Code section shall be permitted by the managers to select:
      1. Any elector, except a poll officer or poll watcher, who is a resident of the precinct in which the elector requiring assistance is attempting to vote; or
      2. The mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or attendant care provider of the elector entitled to receive assistance

        to enter the voting compartment or booth with him or her to assist in voting, such assistance to be rendered inside the voting compartment or booth. No person shall assist more than ten such electors in any primary, election, or runoff covered by this paragraph. No person whose name appears on the ballot as a candidate at a particular election nor the mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of that candidate shall offer assistance during that particular election under the provisions of this Code section to any voter who is not related to such candidate. For the purposes of this paragraph, "related to such candidate" shall mean the candidate's mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

(Ga. L. 1922, p. 97, § 4; Code 1933, § 34-1905; Code 1933, § 34-1317, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1966, p. 185, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 871, § 13; Ga. L. 1969, p. 285, § 4; Code 1933, § 34-1312, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1969, p. 308, § 18; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1718, § 6; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1512, § 5; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 911, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 53, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 145, § 18; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 240, § 38; Ga. L. 2003, p. 517, § 45; Ga. L. 2004, p. 103, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 888, § 6/HB 1435; Ga. L. 2008, p. 781, § 11/HB 1112.)

The 2006 amendment, effective January 1, 2007, in subsection (a), deleted "physical" preceding "disability" in the first sentence, substituted the present second sentence for the former second sentence, which read "The elector shall take an oath that shall be administered to him or her and placed in writing by a manager, giving the reason why the elector requires assistance.", and deleted the former last three sentences, which read "The printed name and the signature of such person assisting the elector shall be provided on the oath. An elector who declares that by reason of blindness he or she is unable to cast a vote as he or she wishes may receive assistance on the basis of the blind elector's declaration without the necessity of an oath. The printed name and the signature of such person assisting a blind elector shall be provided on the declaration."

The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, in paragraph (b)(1), substituted "such elector's" for "the elector's" twice; redesignated former subparagraphs (b)(2)(1) and (b)(2)(2) as subparagraphs (b)(2)(A) and (b)(2)(B), respectively; in subparagraph (b)(2)(B), substituted "grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or attendant care provider" for "sister, brother, spouse, or child", and in the undesignated text, substituted "shall offer" for "may offer" in the second sentence; and deleted former subsection (c), which read: "The oaths or declarations of assisted electors shall be returned by the chief manager to the superintendent. The oaths or declarations of assisted electors shall be available in the superintendent's office for public inspection.".

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Failure to give required oaths to voters receiving assistance along with other irregularities were sufficient to cast doubt on the results of an election. McCranie v. Mullis, 267 Ga. 416, 478 S.E.2d 377 (1996).

Investigation into whether voter activist was a convicted felon did not support civil claim.

- Evidence that an elections official and a sheriff discussed and questioned a political activist about rumors that the activist was a convicted felon did not support a fourteenth amendment claim for purposes of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 or 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) since the activist failed to provide evidence of malicious intent or conduct that shocked the conscience, the activist failed to establish a constitutional violation, a necessary element of a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 or 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3). Moore v. Nelson, 394 F. Supp. 2d 1365 (M.D. Ga. 2005).

Invalidation of election reversed on appeal.

- Trial court erred by invalidating an election for sheriff and ordering a new election because the evidence of systemic misconduct for vote buying and alleged wrongful distribution of absentee ballots was speculative and insufficient to support the trial court's conclusion that irregularities cause doubt on the results. Meade v. Williamson, 293 Ga. 142, 745 S.E.2d 279 (2013).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the provisions, opinions under former Code 1933, §§ 34-1903 and 34-1905 are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Restrictions unenforceable in presidential preference primary.

- The restrictions contained in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409, limiting the class of persons permitted to assist disabled or illiterate electors at the polls, and the restrictions contained in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-385, limiting the class of persons permitted to assist disabled or illiterate electors voting by absentee ballot, cannot be enforced in the presidential preference primary nor can the limitations contained in these Code sections concerning the number of persons one individual may assist be enforced. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-15.

No poll officer may provide voting assistance to an elector. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-182.

Voter's determination as to need of assistance.

- Whether a particular person would qualify under former Code 1933, § 34-1903 (see O.C.G.A. § 21-2-586) was a question which addressed itself to the voter, inasmuch as the voter must state under oath that the voter needs assistance. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 148 (decided under former Code 1933, § 34-1903).

Voter may be administered the oath by any of the managers or by a notary public or other officer qualified to administer oaths. 1948-49 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 204 (decided under former Code 1933, § 34-1905).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 26 Am. Jur. 2d, Elections, § 309 et seq.

C.J.S.

- 29 C.J.S., Elections, §§ 321, 327, 328.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409

Total Results: 2  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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McCranie v. Mullis, 478 S.E.2d 377 (Ga. 1996).

Cited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Dec 5, 1996 | 267 Ga. 416, 96 Fulton County D. Rep. 4292

...[4] The trial court found, and the parties agree, that in this case the specific number of illegal or irregular ballots necessary to cast doubt on the election was 163. [5] The most significant irregularities found by the trial court impact voters receiving assistance in voting. [6] O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409 provides that a voter may receive assistance in the act of voting only if he or she is unable to read the English language or has a physical disability that renders him or her unable to cast the ballot alone....
...Before the voter may receive assistance, the voter must take an oath that a manager administers and places in writing, giving the reason assistance is needed. [7] The only exception to the requirement of the oath is in the case of a blind voter. [8] O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409(a) also requires that the name of the person giving assistance be endorsed on the oath....
...(28). [6] The trial court also found that 33 convicted felons voted illegally; one of the felons was paid for voting; five people voted twice; one vote was cast in the name of a dead person; and one qualified voter was denied the right to vote. [7] O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409(a). [8] Id. ("An elector who declares that by reason of blindness he or she is unable to cast a vote as he or she wishes and who in the judgment of a manager is blind may receive assistance ... without the necessity of an oath.") [9] O.C.G.A. § 21-2-409(a)....
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Meade v. Williamson, 293 Ga. 142 (Ga. 2013).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 3, 2013 | 745 S.E.2d 279, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1678

...s seen in possession of 20 or so absentee ballot applications that she delivered to Van Irvin, a county commissioner; (3) eight voters had been assisted by a single individual who was not shown to be qualified to assist these voters pursuant to OCGA § 21-2-409 (b) (2) and another voter was assisted by a person who likewise was not qualified to assist; (4) four absentee ballot applications reflected addresses different from the address at which the applicant was registered to vote; (5) four abse...
...ndrea Stubbs, a convicted felon who was not qualified to vote. The trial court based its finding that Stubbs was unqualified to assist any of these electors on the ground that she was thus not a qualified elector of the precinct, as required by OCGA § 21-2-409 (b) (2) (A), and that she was not otherwise qualified to serve as an assistant pursuant to OCGA § 21-2-409 (b) (2) (B) because “she was not identified as a qualified family member” of each of the eight voters.6 In fact, no evidence at all was presented regarding Stubbs’s relation to these eight voters although the election *145supervisor...
...g contained incomplete oaths, this also does not require invalidation of these ballots. *147The trial court noted that these four ballot envelopes failed to designate the disability that would authorize a person to assist the voter. Pursuant to OCGA § 21-2-409 (a), the only grounds for receiving assistance in voting in an election are the voter’s inability to read English or a disability that renders the voter unable to cast a ballot without assistance, such as a visual impairment....
...h in OCGA § 21-2-384 (c) (1). Each ballot also reflects an individual executed the required pre-printed oath of a person assisting an elector and thus attested that the voter was entitled to receive assistance in voting under the provisions of OCGA § 21-2-409 (a)....
...ers as “ballots,” the witnesses admitted they did not examine the papers, there was conflicting evidence with respect to whether the papers were actually absentee ballots, and the trial court found them to be absentee ballot applications. OCGA § 21-2-409 (b) (2) states: In all other elections [than one in which a federal candidate is on the ballot], any elector who is entitled to receive assistance in voting under the Code section shall be permitted by the managers to select: (A) Any ele...