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

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-436 (2019)

Duties of poll officers after the close of the polls

✓ 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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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 ballots, if any, spoiled and returned by electors and canceled, shall be announced to all present in the voting room and entered upon the general returns of votes cast at such primary or election. The poll officer shall then compare the number of electors voting as shown by the stubs with the number of names shown as voting by the electors list, voter’s certificates, and the numbered list of voters, and shall announce the result, and shall enter on the general returns the number of electors who have voted, as shown by the voter’s certificates. If any differences exist, they

ELECTIONS & PRIMARIES

shall be reconciled, if possible; otherwise, they shall be noted on the general returns. The electors list, the voter’s certificates, the numbered list of voters, and the stubs of all ballots used, together with all unused ballots, all spoiled and canceled ballots, and all rejected voter’s certificates, shall then be placed in separate packages, containers, or envelopes and sealed before the ballot box is opened.

History

Code 1933, § 34-1320, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Code 1933, § 34-1321, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1969, p. 308, § 21; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1004, § 27; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 133, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1.

Annotations

Cross references. Interfering with poll officers, § 21-2569.

Administrative rules and regulations. Spoiled ballot definition, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Election Code, Absentee Voting, § 183-1-14-.07.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 26 Am. Jur. 2d, Elections, §§ 358, 362, 364, 373.

C.J.S. 29 C.J.S., Elections, § 383 et seq.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2025–2025 · leading case: Repub. Nat'l Comm. v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. (two Cases), 321 Ga. 771 (Ga. 2025).
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Repub. Nat'l Comm. v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. (two Cases), 321 Ga. 771 (Ga. 2025). · cites it 2× “See OCGA §§ 21-2-436, 21-2-454, 21-2- 485.26 If ballot tabulating occurs at a central count location, “[a]s soon as the polls are closed and the last elector has voted[,]” poll officers are required to “[s]eal the ballot box and deliver the ballot box to the tabulating center[.”
Repub. Nat'l Comm. v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. (two Cases) (Ga. 2025). · cites it 2× “See OCGA §§ 21-2-436, 21-2-454, 21-2- 485. 26 If ballot tabulating occurs at a central count location, “[a]s soon as the polls are closed and the last elector has voted[,]” poll officers are required to “[s]eal the ballot box and deliver the ballot box to the tabulating center[.”
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.