Early in my career, I spent nearly five years working for then-Secretary of State Max Cleland.
The office had many roles and responsibilities, but I was interested in our work overseeing and certifying state elections. With more than 500 municipalities, 159 counties, and a General Assembly of 236 lawmakers — and not even counting presidential or gubernatorial contests — thousands of candidates and individual elections occur across the state every year.
While in that office, we passed the Georgia Motor Voter Law, which allows automatic voter registration unless the license applicant opts out. We also passed a statute that uniquely allows college students to choose their legal residence for voting purposes — either their college town or back home — to increase registration and voting among younger voters.
Georgia Governors Sonny Perdue, Nathan Deal, and Brian Kemp would give the state its Voter I.D., No Excuse Absentee Voting, and three weeks of Advance Voting capabilities.
Republican legislatures also gave Georgia election superintendents the ability to begin tabulating early and absentee ballots on election day, rather than waiting until all polls are closed. Those early votes are the first large block of votes reported between 8 and 9 p.m. on an election night.
And then we had the 2020 presidential election. The GOP again did well on election night, carrying pluralities in both the U.S.
Senate contests, most Constitutional offices, and solid majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. However, a small, vocal faction of the current president’s supporters still believes the Georgia presidential contest was stolen — despite being unable to present anything resembling hard evidence.
I noted on that election night, the votes remaining out were primarily in the core Metro Atlanta area, where nearly two million of that year’s five-million ballots were cast. Then incumbent President Donald Trump trailed Vice-President Joe Biden by margins of 70-30 in DeKalb County and in the high 60s in Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton, Henry, and Rockdale counties.
And those larger county vote totals always take longer to tabulate and come in later on election nights.
I will leave that contest there to note that, after Biden won and began seeking a second term, Congressional Democrats introduced HB 1, a bill titled something like the “Save Democracy Act.”
This bill would have made marked and significant changes to federal election law, including instant and same-day registration on election day, which any elections official would tell you creates an administrative nightmare.
Thankfully, that bill became little more than a campaign talking point and died with the Biden administration.
Now, without a presidential contest in sight — but with a midterm election threatening ill winds for the current administration — another ill-advised and poorly timed election law revision, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, comes forward.
Perhaps this saves a GOP majority by diluting ballot access, blocking voter registration or re-registration for millions, and nearly ending the use of mail-in ballots in federal races (with exceptions only for overseas military and tightly interpreted special cases for long travel or extended illness).
SAVE gives a new legal definition to Voter I.D., which I support; however, the proposed federal law would not accept a driver’s license, military I.D., or Voter I.D. card or anything less than a U.S. passport or citizenship paperwork as proof of legal voting status.
Nearly half of Americans do not have a current U.S. passport, and it is not only not free but also requires expedited service, photo fees, filing fees, and costs ranging from about $60 to well into the hundreds.
President Trump has been visibly and vocally holding off on making a deal with Senate democrats to restore TSA funding until after the Senate has voted on the SAVE Act. Those first procedural votes have occurred, but Republicans could not muster the 60 votes needed for what is called “cloture,” which ends debate, blocks any filibuster, and moves the bill forward for Senate consideration.
Part of the SAVE Act also practically eliminates mail-in ballots for federal contests. Incidentally, the current president and first lady just voted by mail in Palm Beach County from the White House, in a closely watched Florida State House Special Election. The Republican candidate endorsed by Trump lost.