ATLANTA – State Representatives Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville), Emory Dunahoo (R-Gillsville), Timothy Barr (R-Lawrenceville) and Matt Dubnik (R-Gainesville) supported the recent vote on House Bill 531, legislation which would reform Georgia’s voting process. House Bill 531 passed in the Georgia House of Representatives on Monday, March 1, and will now be considered by the Senate.
“Year after year, the Republican Caucus of the Georgia House of Representatives has carefully crafted legislation to ensure the sanctity of the ballot box,” said Rep. Hawkins. “More Georgians voted in the November 2020 general election than ever before, and this election cycle exposed areas in our election system that can be improved to reassure citizens that they can be confident in the voting process.”
HB 531 would require a voter to provide a driver’s license number or state ID card number to request and submit an absentee ballot instead of just a signature. This legislation would also require ballot drop-boxes to be placed at early polling locations, which would be accessible when the precinct is open and monitored by an on-site elections official.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit mobile polling locations, out-of-precinct voting, private funding for elections, as well as prohibit non-voting activities at polling locations. To prompt quicker election results, it would reduce the timeline for processing absentee ballots and certifying election results, and ballots would also be printed on “security paper.”
HB 531 would also modify operations of the State Election Board. The Secretary of State would no longer serve as the chair of the board, and the Georgia General Assembly would be tasked with appointing such chair.
During the 2021 legislative session, Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) created the House Special Committee on Election Integrity to handle legislation relating to the security, reliability, efficiency and accessibility of state elections. The special committee is chaired by Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), who sponsored HB 531.
For more information on HB 531, please click here.
Representative Lee Hawkins represents the citizens of District 27, which includes portions of Hall and White counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and currently serves as Chairman of the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and the Banks & Banking, Health & Human Services, Small Business Development, Insurance and Rules committees.
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