Georgia CommonsHB 1593: Alcoholic beverages; sale within 250 feet of any polling place; repeal prohibition
Last action March 25, 2026 · House Second Readers
A Georgia House bill would remove the state law banning alcohol sales within 250 feet of a polling place, letting stores and bars near voting sites sell alcohol on election days.
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 Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia law currently bans the sale of alcoholic beverages within 250 feet of any polling place, as part of a broader statute (O.C.G.A. § 3-3-20) that also covers alcohol sales on Sundays and Christmas Day. This bill would repeal just that one part of the law, the 250-foot polling place restriction. The bill does this by striking paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of the Code section, without touching the rest of the statute's rules about Sunday and Christmas Day alcohol sales. It also repeals any other laws that conflict with this change. The bill does not set a specific future effective date in the text, so it would take effect under Georgia's standard rules once signed into law.
What the bill does
- Repeals the specific provision in Georgia law that bans alcohol sales within 250 feet of any polling place on election days.
- Leaves the rest of O.C.G.A. § 3-3-20, including rules on Sunday and Christmas Day alcohol sales, unchanged.
- Repeals any other state laws that conflict with this change.
Who it affects
Bars, restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses licensed to sell alcohol that are located near polling places, as well as voters and poll workers in the vicinity of those establishments on election days.
Why it matters
If enacted, businesses near polling places would no longer face a distance-based ban on selling alcohol during elections, meaning customers could buy alcoholic beverages on election day even if they are within a few hundred feet of a polling place.
Key provisions
- Section 1 repeals paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 3-3-20, the specific clause banning alcohol sales within 250 feet of a polling place.
- Section 2 repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change, a standard closing provision.
From the bill
“so as to repeal the prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages within 250 feet of any polling place”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)
- Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
- Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)
Topics
- alcoholic beverages
- election day rules
- liquor licensing
- polling places