--- title: SR 483. Right to Register and Vote; conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude as an exception; remove - CA collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr483 cite_as: SR 483, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr483 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr483.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr483/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71730 date: 2025-03-28 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/sr482.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr484.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 95 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr483.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 483 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-03-27 last_action: Senate Read and Referred sponsors: - Josh McLaurin text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR483/2025 upstream_id: 2016118 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - voting rights - felony disenfranchisement - constitutional amendment - election rules --- # SR 483. Right to Register and Vote; conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude as an exception; remove - CA ## Text 25 LC 48 1388 Senate Resolution 483 By: Senator McLaurin of the 14th A RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution so as to remove a co nviction of a felony1 involving moral turpitude as an exception to the right to regis ter and vote; to provide for2 related matters; to provide for the submission of this amendment for ratification or rejection;3 and for other purposes.4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:5 SECTION 1.6 Article II, Section I of the Constitution is amended by revising Paragraph III as follows:7 "Paragraph III. Exceptions to right to register and vote. (a) No person who has been8 convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude may register, r emain registered, or vote9 except upon completion of the sentence.10 (b) No person who has been judicially determined to be mentally i ncompetent may11 register, remain registered, or vote unless the disability has been removed."12 SECTION 2.13 The above proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be publi shed and submitted as14 provided in Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution. The ballot submitting the15 above proposed amendment shall have written or printed thereon the following:16 S. R. 483 - 1 - 25 LC 48 1388 "( ) YES17 ( ) NO 18 19 Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to remove a conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude as an exception to the right to register and vote?" All persons desiring to vote in favor of ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "Yes." 20 All persons desiring to vote against ratifying the proposed amendment shall vote "No." If21 such amendment shall be ratified as provided in said Paragraph of the Constitution, it shall22 become a part of the Constitution of this state.23 S. R. 483 - 2 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. Senate Resolution 483 proposes a constitutional amendment restructuring the section of Georgia's Constitution that lists who cannot register or vote, though the text supplied keeps the felony disqualification the resolution's title says it would remove. ### Plain-language summary Georgia's Constitution currently bars people convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude (a legal term for crimes seen as especially dishonest or immoral) from registering or voting until their sentence is complete, and bars people judicially found mentally incompetent from voting until that finding is lifted. This resolution proposes amending Article II, Section I, Paragraph III of the Constitution. Despite the resolution's title, which describes removing the felony conviction exception, the actual revised text presented splits the existing rule into two labeled parts: part (a) still says no one convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude may register or vote until they finish their sentence, and part (b) still bars mentally incompetent people from voting until the disability is removed. If passed by the General Assembly, the amendment would go to Georgia voters on a future ballot for ratification or rejection, with a yes or no vote on the proposed change. ### What it does - Restructures Article II, Section I, Paragraph III of the Georgia Constitution into two separate lettered subsections, (a) and (b), covering felony convictions and mental incompetence. - Retains language barring people convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude from registering, remaining registered, or voting until their sentence is completed. - Retains language barring people judicially determined mentally incompetent from voting unless that disability has been removed. - Directs that the proposed amendment be published and submitted to Georgia voters for ratification or rejection, as required by the Constitution's amendment process. - Sets the ballot language voters would see, asking whether the Constitution should be amended to remove the felony conviction exception to voting rights. ### Who it affects Georgia voters generally, since they would decide the amendment at the ballot box; people convicted of felonies involving moral turpitude, whose voting eligibility is addressed by the paragraph in question; and people judicially found mentally incompetent, whose voting rights are also covered by this constitutional paragraph. ### Why it matters Constitutional amendments in Georgia require voter approval, so this resolution's real-world effect depends on what change actually reaches the ballot. Voters would need to examine the ballot language closely, since the resolution's stated goal (removing the felony voting exception) does not clearly match the restated text of the paragraph itself. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises Paragraph III of Article II, Section I of the Georgia Constitution, splitting it into subsection (a) on felony convictions involving moral turpitude and subsection (b) on mental incompetence. - Subsection (a) states a person convicted of such a felony cannot register, remain registered, or vote except upon completing their sentence. - Subsection (b) states a person judicially determined mentally incompetent cannot register, remain registered, or vote unless the disability has been removed. - Section 2 requires the amendment be published and submitted to voters under Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution, with specified yes/no ballot language asking whether to remove the felony conviction exception. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-27) - Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-03-28) - Sponsors: Josh McLaurin - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71730 > The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr483.md?full=1