---
title: HB 40. Elections; Secretary of State shall serve as chairperson of the State Election Board; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb40
cite_as: HB 40, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb40
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb40.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb40/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69336
date: 2025-01-16
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb40.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 40
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-14
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - Floyd Griffin
  - Saira Draper
  - Billy Mitchell
  - L.C. Myles
  - Samuel Park
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB40/2025
upstream_id: 1919077
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - election administration
  - State Election Board
  - Secretary of State
  - election rules
  - voting oversight
---

# HB 40. Elections; Secretary of State shall serve as chairperson of the State Election Board; provide

## Text

House Bill 40
By: Representatives Griffin of the 149th, Draper of the 90th, Mitchell of the 88th, Myles of the
126th, and Park of the 107th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
elections and primaries generally, so as to provide that the Secretary of State shall serve as
chairperson of the State Election Board; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections and
primaries generally, is amended by revising Code Section 21-2-30, relating to creation,
membership, terms of service, vacancies, quorum, bylaws, meetings, and executive director
of the State Election Board, as follows:
"21-2-30.
(a) There is created a state board to be known as the State Election Board, to be composed
of <del>a</del> <ins>the Secretary of State who shall serve as the board's</ins> chairperson <del>elected by the General
Assembly,</del> an elector to be elected by a majority vote of the Senate of the General
Assembly at its regular session held in each odd-numbered year, an elector to be elected
by a majority vote of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly at its regular
session held in each odd-numbered year, and a member of each political party to be
nominated and appointed in the manner provided in this Code section. No person while
a member of the General Assembly shall serve as a member of the board.
<del>(a.1)(1) The chairperson shall be elected by the General Assembly in the following
manner: A joint resolution which shall fix a definite time for the nomination and election
of the chairperson may be introduced in either branch of the General Assembly. Upon
passage of the resolution by a majority vote of the membership of the Senate and House
of Representatives, it shall be the duty of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to
call for the nomination and election of the chairperson at the time specified in the
resolution, at which time the name of the qualified person receiving a majority vote of the
membership of the House of Representatives shall be transmitted to the Senate for
confirmation. Upon the qualified person's receiving a majority vote of the membership
of the Senate, he or she shall be declared the duly elected chairperson; and the Governor
shall be notified of his or her election by the Secretary of the Senate. The Governor is
directed to administer the oath of office to the chairperson and to furnish the chairperson
with a properly executed commission of office certifying his or her election.
(2) The chairperson of the board shall be nonpartisan. At no time during his or her
service as chairperson shall the chairperson actively participate in a political party
organization or in the campaign of a candidate for public office, nor shall he or she make
any campaign contributions to a candidate for public office. Furthermore, to qualify for
appointment as chairperson, in the two years immediately preceding his or her
appointment, a person shall not have qualified as a partisan candidate for public office,
participated in a political party organization or the campaign of a partisan candidate for
public office, or made any campaign contributions to a partisan candidate for public
office.
(3) The term of office of the chairperson shall continue until a successor is elected as
provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection. In the event of a vacancy in the position of
</del>
<del>chairperson at a time when the General Assembly is not in session, it shall be the duty of
the Governor and the Governor is empowered and directed to appoint a chairperson
possessing the qualifications as provided in this subsection who shall serve as chairperson
until the next regular session of the General Assembly, at which time the nomination and
election of a chairperson shall be held by the General Assembly as provided in
paragraph (1) of this subsection.
</del> (b) A member elected by a house of the General Assembly shall take office on the day
following the adjournment of the regular session in which elected and shall serve for a term
of two years and until his or her successor is elected and qualified, unless sooner removed.
An elected member of the board may be removed at any time by a majority vote of the
house which elected him or her. In the event a vacancy should occur in the office of such
a member of the board at a time when the General Assembly is not in session, then the
President of the Senate shall thereupon appoint an elector to fill the vacancy if the prior
incumbent of such office was elected by the Senate or appointed by the President of the
Senate; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall thereupon appoint an elector
to fill the vacancy if the prior incumbent of such office was elected by the House of
Representatives or appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. A member
appointed to fill a vacancy may be removed at any time by a majority vote of the house
whose presiding officer appointed him or her.
(c) Within 30 days after April 3, 1968, the state executive committee of each political
party shall nominate a member of its party to serve as a member of the State Election Board
and, thereupon, the Governor shall appoint such nominee as a member of the board to serve
for a term of two years from the date of the appointment and until his or her successor is
elected and qualified, unless sooner removed. Thereafter, such state executive committee
shall select a nominee for such office on the board within 30 days after a vacancy occurs
in such office and shall also select a nominee at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the
term of each incumbent nominated by it; and each such nominee shall be immediately
appointed by the Governor as a member of the board to serve for the unexpired term in the
case of a vacancy, and for a term of two years in the case of an expired term. Each
successor, other than one appointed to serve an unexpired term, shall serve for a term of
two years; and the terms shall run consecutively from the date of the initial gubernatorial
appointment. No person shall be eligible for nomination by such state executive committee
unless he or she is an elector and a member in good standing of the political party of the
committee. Such a member shall cease to serve on the board and his or her office shall be
abolished if and when his or her political organization shall cease to be a 'political party'
as defined in Code Section 21-2-2.
(d) Three <del>voting</del> members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and no vacancy on the
board shall impair the right of the quorum to exercise all the powers and perform all the
duties of the board. The board shall adopt a seal for its use and bylaws for its own
government and procedure.
(e) Meetings shall be held whenever necessary for the performance of the duties of the
board on call of the chairperson or whenever any two of its members so request. Minutes
shall be kept of all meetings of the board and a record kept of the vote of each member on
all questions coming before the board. The chairperson shall give to each member of the
board prior notice of the time and place of each meeting of the board.
(f) If any member of the board <ins>other than the Secretary of State</ins> shall qualify as a candidate
for any public office which is to be voted upon in any primary or election regulated by the
board, that member's position on the board shall be immediately vacated and such vacancy
shall be filled in the manner provided for filling other vacancies on the board.
(g) On and after July 1, 2023, the board shall be a separate and distinct budget unit as
defined in Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, the 'Budget Act'; provided,
however, that the board shall be attached for administrative purposes only to the office of
the Secretary of State as provided for in Code Section 50-4-3. The board shall neither be
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State nor shall it be considered a division of the
office of the Secretary of State.
(h) The board shall have the power to appoint an executive director who shall be a
full-time employee of the board. The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of the
board, and the board shall in its discretion appoint and fix the compensation of the
executive director. The executive director shall be charged with such duties and powers
as provided in this Code section or as delegated by the board. The executive director shall
serve as the secretary of the board ex officio but shall not be a voting member of the board
or a member for the purposes of constituting a quorum.
(i) The executive director and other employees of the board shall be reimbursed for travel
and other expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in the same manner as
officers and employees of the office of the Secretary of State.
(j) Venue of any action involving members of the board shall be the county in which is
found the primary office of the board. Any notice or legal process necessary to be served
upon the board may be served upon the executive director, but the executive director shall
not be considered a member of the board in determining the venue of any such action, and
no court shall have jurisdiction over any such action solely by virtue of the executive
director residing or maintaining a residence within its jurisdiction.
(k) The executive director shall:
(1) Keep all records of the board and its proceedings;
(2) With the approval of the board, employ and fix the compensation of personnel as
determined necessary to assist the executive director in his or her duties;
(3) With the consent of the board, schedule the time and location of all meetings and
hearings, as well as maintain a schedule of all meetings and hearings available for public
review;
(4) With the approval of the board, enter into such contracts, leases, agreements, or other
transactions with any person or agency as are deemed necessary to carry out the
provisions of this chapter or to provide the services required by the board; and
(5) On or before the second Tuesday in January of each year, prepare and deliver a
written annual report to the Governor and the chairpersons of the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees describing the activities of the board for the previous
calendar year. Such report shall be made available to any member of the General
Assembly upon request. The report shall include a summary of all actions taken by the
board and a financial report of all income and disbursements and staff personnel. The
Governor may request a preliminary financial report for budgetary purposes prior to the
executive director delivering the annual report."
SECTION 2.
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 40 would make Georgia's Secretary of State the automatic chairperson of the State Election Board, replacing the current system where the General Assembly elects a nonpartisan chairperson.

### Plain-language summary

Under current Georgia law, the State Election Board's chairperson is elected by the General Assembly through a joint resolution process, and that person must be nonpartisan, staying out of party politics and campaign contributions for two years before and during their service. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 21-2-30 to eliminate that election process entirely and instead name the Secretary of State as the board's chairperson by virtue of holding that office.

The bill strikes the entire subsection describing how the General Assembly nominates and elects a chairperson, how the Governor fills a vacancy in that role, and the nonpartisanship rules that applied to the elected chairperson. It also changes the rule that forces a board member to give up their seat if they run for public office, exempting the Secretary of State from that requirement since the office itself now carries the chairmanship. A separate wording change removes the word 'voting' from the quorum requirement, so any three members, not just voting members, can constitute a quorum.

### What it does

- Makes the Secretary of State the chairperson of the State Election Board automatically, instead of having the General Assembly elect a separate chairperson.
- Removes the entire process by which the General Assembly nominated and elected the chairperson through a joint resolution and confirmation votes in both chambers.
- Eliminates the nonpartisanship requirements that previously applied to the elected chairperson, including bans on party activity and campaign contributions.
- Removes the Governor's power to appoint an interim chairperson when a vacancy occurred while the General Assembly was out of session.
- Exempts the Secretary of State from the rule that removes a board member from their seat if they qualify as a candidate for public office.
- Changes the quorum rule so that three members generally, rather than three voting members specifically, are needed to conduct board business.

### Who it affects

The Secretary of State's office, which gains an automatic seat and leadership role on the State Election Board; the General Assembly, which loses its role in electing the board's chairperson; and the other board members, including party-nominated members and legislatively elected electors, whose working relationship with board leadership would change.

### Why it matters

The change would concentrate control over the state's election oversight board in one statewide elected official rather than a separate chairperson chosen through a legislative process with nonpartisanship rules. This affects who sets meeting agendas, oversees the board's staff, and directs its work on Georgia elections.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 21-2-30(a) to name the Secretary of State as the board's chairperson instead of a chairperson elected by the General Assembly.
- Section 1 strikes former subsection (a.1) in its entirety, removing the joint resolution election process, nonpartisanship requirements, and the Governor's interim appointment power for the chairperson role.
- Section 1 amends subsection (f) so that the Secretary of State, unlike other board members, would not have to vacate their board seat if they qualify as a candidate for public office.
- Section 1 removes the word 'voting' from the quorum requirement in subsection (d), changing quorum from three voting members to three members generally.
- Section 2 repeals all conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-01-14)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-01-16)
- Sponsors: Floyd Griffin, Saira Draper, Billy Mitchell, L.C. Myles, Samuel Park
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69336

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb40.md?full=1