Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1531: Ball Ground, City of; primaries and elections shall be held and conducted in accordance with the Georgia Election Code; revise provisions
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date
House Bill 1531 updates the City of Ball Ground's charter to require that its municipal primaries and elections follow the statewide Georgia Election Code, replacing older local rules.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
The City of Ball Ground currently operates under a charter approved in 1990 that sets its own rules for how city elections and primaries are conducted. This bill rewrites parts of that charter so the city's primaries and elections must instead follow Chapter 2 of Title 21 of Georgia law, known as the Georgia Election Code, which governs elections statewide. The bill also makes a related, conforming change to how candidates qualify. Candidates for the city's nonpartisan offices, such as mayor and council seats, must file a notice of candidacy during the city's nonpartisan qualifying period under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132. A separate provision on residency requirements for the mayor and council members is also rewritten, though its substance (12 months' prior residency and continued residency during service) stays largely the same. Any older laws that conflict with these changes are repealed.
What the bill does
- Requires that all primaries and elections for the City of Ball Ground be held and conducted under the statewide Georgia Election Code (O.C.G.A. Title 21, Chapter 2) instead of separate local rules.
- Requires candidates for nonpartisan city offices to file a notice of candidacy during the city's nonpartisan qualifying period, per O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132.
- Rewrites the charter's residency requirement so the mayor and council members must have lived in the city for 12 months before their election and remain residents and registered voters during their term.
- Repeals any prior city charter provisions or other laws that conflict with these new election rules.
Who it affects
City of Ball Ground residents, voters, and anyone running for mayor or city council; the city's election officials who administer local elections; and county or state election staff who help conduct city elections under the statewide code.
Why it matters
By tying Ball Ground's local elections to the same statewide Georgia Election Code used elsewhere, the city's election procedures, such as qualifying deadlines and voting rules, would align with state law rather than older, city-specific provisions, which could reduce confusion for candidates and voters.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises subsection (b) of Section 2.10 of the city charter, restating the four-year terms and 12-month residency requirement for mayor and council members.
- Section 2 revises subsection (b) of Section 2.11 of the city charter to require all city primaries and elections to follow the Georgia Election Code (O.C.G.A. Title 21, Chapter 2).
- Section 2 also requires nonpartisan candidates to file a notice of candidacy during the city's nonpartisan qualifying period under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting prior laws.
From the bill
“All primaries and elections shall be held and conducted in accordance with Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the O.C.G.A., the 'Georgia Election Code,' as now or hereafter amended.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House floor session, March 20, 2026 (legislative day 35)
From 0:49:15 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2902
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk reported a favorable committee recommendation for HB 1531 and later listed it as a City of Ball Ground bill on the uncontested local calendar. No separate presentation or debate occurred. The House passed the calendar as a group, 153 to 0.
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 10, 2026 (legislative day 30), 0:37:09
- Read aloud: House floor session, March 12, 2026 (legislative day 31), 0:46:04
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 23, 2026 (legislative day 36), 0:30:06
- Read aloud: Senate floor session, March 25, 2026 (legislative day 37), 0:36:40
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 581
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Rick Jasperse (R, HD-11)
Votes
- House voteMarch 20, 2026
153 yea, 0 nay (14 not voting, 9 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 25, 2026
50 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- local elections
- municipal charter
- election rules
- Ball Ground
- candidate qualifying