SB 533: Elections and Primaries; certain nonresident electors to vote in municipal elections of such municipality; provide

Currently, only residents of a Georgia municipality can vote in that municipality's elections. This bill creates a new category called a 'nonresident elector': someone who lives in the same county as a municipality, owns real property there but does not live inside the municipality's boundaries, registers to vote there, and is a U.S. citizen. The change would not take effect automatically statewide. A municipality could only allow nonresident electors to vote if the General Assembly separately passes a local law authorizing it for that specific municipality. Property owned by companies or other business entities cannot be used to qualify. No more than two nonresident electors can register per parcel of property, and multiple qualifying co-owners must agree on which two people will vote. Nonresident electors are flagged on voter lists, assigned to a precinct based on their property's location, and their ballots are processed like normal municipal ballots. The State Election Board can adopt additional rules.

• Creates a new legal category, 'nonresident elector,' for county residents who own property in a municipality but do not live there.
• Allows a municipality to let such nonresident electors vote in its elections, but only after the General Assembly passes a separate local law authorizing it for that municipality.
• Bars property owned by companies, corporations, LLCs, or other business entities from being used to qualify someone to vote.
• Limits nonresident elector registration to two people per property parcel and requires co-owners to designate which two if more than two qualify.
• Requires municipalities to flag nonresident electors on voter lists and assign them to precincts based on where their property sits.
• Gives the State Election Board authority to write additional rules for how nonresident electors vote in municipal elections.

Property owners who live in a county but outside a specific municipality's limits, municipal election officials who must register and track these voters, the State Election Board, and the General Assembly, which would need to pass a separate local law for each municipality before this option applies there.

If enacted and later activated by a local law for a specific city or town, some longtime residents' influence over municipal elections could be shared with outside property owners who don't live there, changing who has a say in local decisions like city taxes and zoning.

• New Code section 21-2-20(a) defines 'nonresident elector' as a county resident, U.S. citizen, who owns property in but does not live in a municipality and registers there.
• Subsection (b) requires a separate General Assembly local law for any specific municipality before nonresident voting can begin there.
• Subsection (c) excludes property owned by business entities from qualifying anyone to vote.
• Subsection (d) caps nonresident electors at two per property parcel and sets rules for co-owners to designate voters.
• Subsection (e) requires municipalities to label these voters 'NONRESIDENT ELECTOR' on official election lists.
• Subsection (f) ties precinct and district assignment to the location of the owned property.
• Subsection (i) authorizes the State Election Board to issue additional rules and regulations for this voting process.

1. 2026-02-19Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-18Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)Primary sponsor
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)

• election rules
• municipal elections
• voter eligibility
• property owners
• local government