HB 1510: Elections; judicially incompetent persons; restrict voting rights

Georgia law currently blocks two groups of people from registering or voting: those convicted of a felony involving 'moral turpitude' (until they finish their sentence) and those a court has ruled mentally incompetent (until that finding is lifted). This bill amends that code section (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-216) by deleting the felony related language entirely, leaving only the existing rule about judicially incompetent persons. The change would not take effect on its own. Section 2 makes it contingent: it only becomes law on January 1, 2027 if Georgia voters ratify a constitutional amendment at the November 2026 general election that removes the felony conviction exception from the state constitution's voting rights language. If voters do not ratify that amendment, this bill automatically repeals itself on January 1, 2027 and never takes effect.

• Deletes the existing statutory language barring people convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude from registering, remaining registered, or voting until they complete their sentence.
• Leaves unchanged the existing rule that a person judicially determined to be mentally incompetent cannot register, remain registered, or vote unless that disability is later removed.
• Ties the whole change to a contingency: it only takes effect January 1, 2027 if a specific constitutional amendment passes at the November 2026 general election.
• Automatically repeals the bill by operation of law on January 1, 2027 if that constitutional amendment is not ratified by voters.

Georgians with felony convictions involving moral turpitude who are serving sentences, people under a judicial finding of mental incompetence, county election officials who administer voter registration, and Georgia voters, who would decide the outcome through a separate constitutional amendment vote in November 2026.

Whether this bill changes anything at all depends entirely on a separate statewide constitutional amendment vote in November 2026. If that amendment passes, convicted felons would no longer be barred from voter registration under this code section; if it fails, current law stays exactly as it is, including the incompetency restriction.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 21-2-216(b), striking the clause disqualifying people convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude from voter registration and voting.
• Section 1 retains, without change, the existing clause barring judicially determined mentally incompetent persons from registering or voting unless the disability is removed.
• Section 2 sets a contingent effective date of January 1, 2027, conditioned on ratification of a constitutional amendment at the November 2026 general election.
• Section 2 provides that if the constitutional amendment is not ratified, the Act does not take effect and is automatically repealed on January 1, 2027.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-09House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-06House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-04House Hopper (House)

• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)Primary sponsor
• Solomon Adesanya (D, HD-043)
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)
• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)

• voting rights
• felon disenfranchisement
• constitutional amendment
• election law
• voter registration