---
title: HB 1510. Elections; judicially incompetent persons; restrict voting rights
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1510
cite_as: HB 1510, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1510
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1510.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1510/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73884
date: 2026-03-09
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1509.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1511.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 132
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1510.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1510
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-03-04
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - El-Mahdi Holly
  - Solomon Adesanya
  - Dewey McClain
  - Eric Bell
  - Bryce Berry
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1510/2025
upstream_id: 2129501
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - voting rights
  - felon disenfranchisement
  - constitutional amendment
  - election law
  - voter registration
---

# HB 1510. Elections; judicially incompetent persons; restrict voting rights

## Text

House Bill 1510
By: Representatives Holly of the 116th, Adesanya of the 43rd, McClain of the 109th, Bell of
the 75th, and Berry of the 56th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 21-2-216 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
qualifications of electors generally, reregistration of electors purged from list, eligibility of
nonresidents who vote in presidential elections, retention of qualification for standing as
elector, evidence of citizenship, and check of convicted felons and deceased persons
databases, so as to restrict voting rights for judicially incompetent persons; to provide for
related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date and automatic repeal; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 21-2-216 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to qualifications
of electors generally, reregistration of electors purged from list, eligibility of nonresidents
who vote in presidential elections, retention of qualification for standing as elector, evidence
of citizenship, and check of convicted felons and deceased persons databases, is amended by
revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b) In addition to the qualifications in subsection (a) of this Code section, no person <del>who
has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude may register, remain registered,
</del>
<del>or vote except upon completion of the sentence and no person</del> who has been judicially
determined to be mentally incompetent may register, remain registered, or vote unless the
disability has been removed."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2027, only if an amendment to the
Constitution of Georgia is ratified at the November, 2026, general election removing a
conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude as an exception to the right to register and
vote. If such an amendment to the Constitution is not so ratified, this Act shall not become
effective and shall stand repealed by operation of law on January 1, 2027.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

House Bill 1510 would strip the felony related voter registration bar out of Georgia law, but only if voters ratify a constitutional amendment in November 2026 removing that same felony exception; the existing rule barring judicially incompetent people from voting would stay in place.

### Plain-language summary

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.

### What it does

- 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.

### Who it affects

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.

### Why it matters

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.

### Key provisions

- 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.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-03-04)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-03-09)
- Sponsors: El-Mahdi Holly, Solomon Adesanya, Dewey McClain, Eric Bell, Bryce Berry
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73884

> The history, votes, and amendments (132 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1510.md?full=1