Section 2. Elections and Primaries Generally, 21-2-1 through 21-2-604.
ARTICLE 12
RETURNS
21-2-499. Duty of Secretary of State as to tabulation, computation, and canvassing of votes for state and federal officers; certification of presidential electors by Governor.
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Upon receiving the certified returns of any election from the various superintendents, the Secretary of State shall immediately proceed to tabulate, compute, and canvass the votes cast for all candidates described in subparagraph (a)(4)(A) of Code Section 21-2-497 and upon all questions voted for by the electors of more than one county and shall thereupon certify and file in his or her office the tabulation thereof. In the event an error is found in the certified returns presented to the Secretary of State or in the tabulation, computation, or canvassing of votes as described in this Code section, the Secretary of State shall notify the county submitting the incorrect returns and direct the county to correct and recertify such returns. Upon receipt by the Secretary of State of the corrected certified returns of the county, the Secretary of State shall issue a new certification of the results and shall file the same in his or her office.
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The Secretary of State shall also, upon receiving the certified returns for presidential electors, proceed to tabulate, compute, and canvass the votes cast for each slate of presidential electors and shall immediately lay them before the Governor. Not later than 5:00 P.M. on the fourteenth day following the date on which such election was conducted, the Secretary of State shall certify the votes cast for all candidates described in subparagraph (a)(4)(A) of Code Section 21-2-497 and upon all questions voted for by the electors of more than one county and shall no later than that same time lay the returns for presidential electors before the Governor. The Governor shall enumerate and ascertain the number of votes for each person so voted and shall certify the slates of presidential electors receiving the highest number of votes. The Governor shall certify the slates of presidential electors no later than 5:00 P.M. on the fifteenth day following the date on which such election was conducted. Notwithstanding the deadlines specified in this Code section, such times may be altered for just cause by an order of a judge of superior court of this state.
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The Secretary of State shall not count, tabulate, or publish the names of any write-in candidates for whom the notice of intention of candidacy has not been provided in compliance with Code Section 21-2-133.
(Code 1933, § 34-1510, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 292, § 1; Ga. L. 1970, p. 347, § 30; Ga. L. 1987, p. 997, § 3; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1027, § 14; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 269, § 26; Ga. L. 2003, p. 517, § 57; Ga. L. 2012, p. 995, § 39/SB 92.)
The 2012 amendment,
effective July 1, 2012, substituted "subparagraph (a)(4)(A)" for "subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4)" in the first sentence of subsection (a) and in the second sentence of subsection (b).
Cross references.
- Duty of Secretary of State to destroy quadrennially all filed election returns of officials whose terms of office have expired,
§
45-13-20(7).
Law reviews.
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For note on the 2001 amendment to O.C.G.A.
§
21-2-499, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 96 (2001).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Certification of election returns.
- Trial court did not err in ruling that certification by a county board of elections and registration triggered the five-day filing period of O.C.G.A.
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21-2-524(a) because the five-day period of
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21-2-524(a) for filing a petition to contest the election results for a county office began to run when the county superintendent had officially consolidated and certified the returns for the particular office; because the Secretary of State only certifies election returns for federal and state offices, the sole election official specified in the Georgia Code as having responsibility for consolidation and certification of election results for other offices is the local superintendent. Broughton v. Douglas County Bd. of Elections, 286 Ga. 528, 690 S.E.2d 141 (2010).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 26 Am. Jur. 2d, Elections,
§
370.
C.J.S.
- 29 C.J.S., Elections,
§
392 et seq.
