SB 271: Elections and Primaries; permanent absentee voter list; provide

Currently, Georgia voters who want to vote absentee must submit a new application for nearly every primary, election, or runoff, with a limited exception for certain elderly, disabled, or military and overseas voters who can request ballots for a single primary-election cycle. Senate Bill 271 changes the standard absentee ballot application form so that any eligible elector can check a box asking to automatically receive absentee ballots for all future regularly scheduled primaries, elections, and runoffs, without reapplying each time. Once an elector selects this option, the county would keep sending absentee ballots automatically unless the elector is moved to the inactive voter list under existing law (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-235), or the elector chooses to opt out. The bill also requires the Secretary of State to track and publicly disclose, as part of existing voter data reporting under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-225, whether each voter has chosen this standing absentee ballot option.

• Adds a checkbox to the state absentee ballot application letting voters opt in to automatically receive ballots for all future regular primaries, elections, and runoffs.
• Ends the current requirement that most voters submit a brand-new absentee ballot application before each individual primary, election, or runoff once they opt in.
• Requires that renewed application only after being moved to the inactive voter list or after the voter opts back out.
• Requires the Secretary of State to record whether each voter has chosen the standing absentee ballot option and make that information publicly available.

Georgia voters who cast absentee ballots, county boards of registrars and absentee ballot clerks who process applications and mail ballots, and the Secretary of State's office, which must update the statewide application form and voter data systems to track this new option.

Voters who opt in would no longer need to fill out a new absentee ballot request for every election, which could make it easier to keep voting by mail over time, while local election offices would need to track opt-in status and continue mailing ballots automatically unless a voter is deactivated or opts out.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 21-2-381(a)(1) to add a place on the absentee ballot application for voters to select automatic future absentee ballots.
• New subparagraph (H) lets an elector request absentee ballots for all future regularly scheduled primaries, elections, and runoffs in which they are eligible to vote.
• The automatic ballot mailing stops only if the voter is moved to the inactive voter list under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-235 or the voter opts out.
• If a voter on the inactive list confirms and updates an in-state address, the address for mailing absentee ballots must also be updated.
• The Secretary of State must include each voter's standing absentee ballot election in the voter data already collected and made public under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-225.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Nabilah Parkes (D, SD-7)Primary sponsor
• Harold Jones II (D, SD-22)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-41)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-44)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-39)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-35)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-36)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-14)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-38)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-40)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-17)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-34)
• Donzella James (D, SD-28)
• David Lucas (D, SD-26)
• Freddie Powell Sims (D, SD-12)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-5)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-15)
• Michael 'Doc' Rhett (D, SD-33)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-2)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-55)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-43)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-9)

• absentee voting
• election rules
• voter registration
• mail-in ballots