SB 516: Elections and Primaries; Secretary of State to establish a grant program to assist counties with offsetting half of the cost associated with special elections; provide

When a state or federal office in Georgia becomes vacant, counties have to hold special elections to fill it, and county governments currently bear the full cost of running those elections. This bill would add a new section to Georgia's election law (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-20) directing the Secretary of State to set up a grant program that reimburses counties for half of the costs tied to conducting a special election for a state or federal office. The program is explicitly made subject to legislative appropriations, meaning it would only operate if the General Assembly actually funds it in the state budget. The bill does not specify a dollar amount, application process, or start date beyond the standard repeal of conflicting laws in Section 2.

• Creates a new grant program run by the Secretary of State to help counties pay for special elections filling state or federal offices.
• Limits the grant to covering half of a county's costs for conducting a given special election, leaving the other half to the county.
• Makes the entire program conditional on the General Assembly appropriating money for it, rather than guaranteeing automatic funding.
• Adds this authority as a new Code section, O.C.G.A. § 21-2-20, within the chapter governing elections and primaries generally.

County governments and county election superintendents, who run special elections and currently absorb the full cost, and the Secretary of State's office, which would administer the new grant program. Georgia voters in districts holding special elections are affected indirectly through county election budgets.

Special elections can be a significant unplanned expense for county budgets, especially smaller counties. If funded by the legislature, this program would cut counties' out-of-pocket costs for these elections roughly in half, though the relief depends entirely on whether lawmakers set aside money for it.

• Section 1 adds new Code section 21-2-20, directing the Secretary of State to establish a grant program for counties conducting special elections for state or federal offices.
• The grant program is expressly conditioned on appropriations, meaning funding is not automatic and depends on future budget decisions.
• The reimbursement is capped at half of the costs a county or county election superintendent incurs for the special election.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.

1. 2026-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-17Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Jaha Howard (D, SD-035)Primary sponsor
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)

• special elections
• county government funding
• election costs
• Secretary of State