--- title: SB 531. Electors; convictions for offenses involving the purchase, possession, or control of certain controlled substances shall not prevent persons from registering, remaining registered, or voting; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb531 cite_as: SB 531, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb531 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb531.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb531/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73381 date: 2026-02-19 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. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb530.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb532.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 95 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb531.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 531 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-18 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Harold Jones - Elena Parent - Sonya Halpern - Tonya Anderson - Gail Davenport - RaShaun Kemp - Kenya Wicks - Jaha Howard - Nan Orrock - Josh McLaurin - Kim Jackson - Nabilah Islam Parkes - Sheikh Rahman - Nikki Merritt text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB531/2025 upstream_id: 2119523 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - voting rights - felon voting rights - election rules - drug possession law - voter registration --- # SB 531. Electors; convictions for offenses involving the purchase, possession, or control of certain controlled substances shall not prevent persons from registering, remaining registered, or voting; provide ## Text Senate Bill 531 By: Senators Jones II of the 22nd, Parent of the 44th, Halpern of the 39th, Anderson of the 43rd, Davenport of the 17th and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 21-2-216 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to qualifications of electors generally, reregistration of electors purged from list, eligibility of nonresidents who vote in presidential elections, retention of qualification for standing as elector, evidence of citizenship, and check of convicted felons and deceased persons databases, so as to provide that convictions for offenses involving the purchase, possession, or control of certain controlled substances shall not prevent persons from registering, remaining registered, or voting; to provide for a definition; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Code Section 21-2-216 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to qualifications of electors generally, reregistration of electors purged from list, eligibility of nonresidents who vote in presidential elections, retention of qualification for standing as elector, evidence of citizenship, and check of convicted felons and deceased persons databases, is amended by revising subsection (b) as follows: "(b)(1) As used in this subsection, the term 'felony involving moral turpitude' shall not include any offense resulting from a violation of subsection (a) or paragraph (1) of subsection (j) of Code Section 16-13-30, relating to purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of controlled substances or marijuana. (2) In addition to the qualifications in subsection (a) of this Code section, no person who has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude may register, remain registered, or vote except upon completion of the sentence and no person who has been judicially determined to be mentally incompetent may register, remain registered, or vote unless the disability has been removed." SECTION 2. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2027. SECTION 3. 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. A Georgia Senate bill would stop certain drug possession convictions from counting as the kind of felony that blocks someone from registering to vote or voting, taking effect January 1, 2027. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, a conviction for a 'felony involving moral turpitude' bars a person from registering, staying registered, or voting until they finish their sentence. This bill amends that law (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-216) to say that certain drug convictions, specifically violations of subsection (a) or paragraph (1) of subsection (j) of Georgia's controlled substances law (O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30), which cover purchasing, possessing, or controlling certain controlled substances or marijuana, no longer count as a felony involving moral turpitude for voting purposes. The rest of the existing rule stays in place: people convicted of other felonies involving moral turpitude still cannot register, remain registered, or vote until their sentence is complete, and people found mentally incompetent still cannot vote unless that finding is reversed. The change would take effect on January 1, 2027. ### What it does - Adds a new definition to Georgia's voter qualification law stating that certain drug offenses do not count as a 'felony involving moral turpitude' for voting eligibility purposes. - Excludes convictions under specific parts of Georgia's controlled substances law, covering purchase, possession, or control of controlled substances or marijuana, from the list of felonies that block voter registration. - Leaves in place the existing rule that other felonies involving moral turpitude still bar someone from registering or voting until their sentence is complete. - Leaves in place the existing rule barring people judicially found mentally incompetent from voting unless that disability is removed. - Sets the effective date of the change as January 1, 2027. ### Who it affects Georgians with past or future convictions for purchasing, possessing, or controlling certain controlled substances or marijuana under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30, county election officials and boards of registrars who process voter registrations, and the state agencies that check felony conviction databases against voter rolls. ### Why it matters People convicted of the specified drug possession offenses would keep their ability to register and vote instead of losing it as a 'felony involving moral turpitude.' Election officials would need to apply a narrower definition when deciding whether a past conviction disqualifies someone from voting. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises subsection (b) of O.C.G.A. § 21-2-216, which lists disqualifications for voter registration and voting. - The new definition specifies that 'felony involving moral turpitude' excludes offenses under subsection (a) or paragraph (1) of subsection (j) of O.C.G.A. § 16-13-30, covering purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of controlled substances or marijuana as referenced in those specific provisions. - The existing requirement remains that other moral turpitude felony convictions bar voting until the sentence is completed. - The existing requirement remains that a judicial finding of mental incompetence bars voting unless the disability is removed. - Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2027. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-18) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-19) - Sponsors: Harold Jones, Elena Parent, Sonya Halpern, Tonya Anderson, Gail Davenport, RaShaun Kemp, Kenya Wicks, Jaha Howard, Nan Orrock, Josh McLaurin, Kim Jackson, Nabilah Islam Parkes, Sheikh Rahman, Nikki Merritt - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73381 > The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb531.md?full=1