TITLE 21 ELECTIONS

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

ARTICLE 15 MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES

21-2-566. Interference with primaries and elections generally.

Any person who:

1. Willfully prevents or attempts to prevent any poll officer from holding any primary or election under this chapter;
2. Uses or threatens violence in a manner that would prevent a reasonable poll officer or actually prevents a poll officer from the execution of his or her duties or materially interrupts or improperly and materially interferes with the execution of a poll officer's duties;
3. Willfully blocks or attempts to block the avenue to the door of any polling place;
4. Uses or threatens violence in a manner that would prevent a reasonable elector from voting or actually prevents any elector from voting;
5. Willfully prepares or presents to any poll officer a fraudulent voter's certificate not signed by the elector whose certificate it purports to be;
6. Knowingly deposits fraudulent ballots in the ballot box;
7. Knowingly registers fraudulent votes upon any voting machine; or
8. Willfully tampers with any electors list, voter's certificate, numbered list of voters, ballot box, voting machine, direct recording electronic (DRE) equipment, or tabulating machine

   shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years or to pay a fine not to exceed $100,000.00, or both.

(Code 1933, § 34-1924, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 206, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 517, § 61; Ga. L. 2007, p. 536, § 5/SB 40; Ga. L. 2008, p. 781, § 16/HB 1112.)

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, added "and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years or to pay a fine not to exceed $100,000.00, or both" at the end of the undesignated ending paragraph.

The 2008 amendment, effective July 1, 2008, in paragraph (2), substituted "in a manner that would prevent a reasonable poll officer or actually prevents a poll officer from the execution of his or her duties or materially interrupts or improperly and materially interferes with the execution of a poll officer's duties" for "to any poll officer or interrupts or improperly interferes with the execution of his or her duty"; and, in paragraph (4), substituted "in a manner that would prevent a reasonable elector from voting or actually prevents any elector" for "to any elector to prevent him or her" near the end.