SB533: SB533 Elections and Primaries; certain nonresident electors to vote in municipal elections of such municipality; provide

Currently, only people who live inside a Georgia municipality can vote in that municipality's elections. This bill creates a new option for 'nonresident electors': people who live elsewhere in the same county but own real estate (in their own name, not through a company) inside the city limits. These property owners could register and vote in that city's elections, but only after the General Assembly passes a separate local law specifically authorizing that particular municipality to allow it. The bill limits this to no more than two nonresident electors per parcel of property, requires them to designate which parcel they are basing their eligibility on, and bars using property owned by corporations, LLCs, or other business entities to qualify. Nonresident electors would be labeled as such on the voter list and assigned to precincts based on where their property sits. The State Election Board could issue additional rules to administer this new voting category.

• Creates a new category of voter called a 'nonresident elector': someone who lives in the county but owns property, in their own name, inside a city and wants to vote there.
• Requires a separate local law passed by the General Assembly for each specific municipality before that city can allow nonresident elector voting.
• Limits nonresident elector status to two people per parcel of property and requires co-owners to jointly designate who those two people are.
• Bars business entities like corporations, LLCs, and partnerships from being used as the basis for a person's eligibility to vote as a nonresident elector.
• Requires municipalities to flag nonresident electors on voter lists and assign them to precincts based on the location of their qualifying property.
• Authorizes the State Election Board to write additional rules governing how nonresident electors register and vote in municipal elections.

Georgia property owners who live outside a city but within the same county, city governments and their election officials, county election boards, and the State Election Board, which would gain new rulemaking authority over this voting category.

If enacted along with a specific local law for a given city, some property owners who cannot currently vote for that city's mayor or council because they live outside its limits could gain that right, potentially changing who has a say in municipal elections and how cities administer voter registration and precinct assignments.

• New Code section 21-2-20(a) defines a 'nonresident elector' as a county resident who owns real property in the municipality, registers under this section, and is a U.S. citizen.
• Subsection (b) makes the whole scheme contingent on the General Assembly first passing a separate local law authorizing a particular municipality to allow this kind of voting.
• Subsection (c) prohibits property owned by companies, corporations, LLCs, or other business entities from being used to establish voting eligibility.
• Subsection (d) caps eligible nonresident electors at two per property parcel and requires multiple owners to jointly and irrevocably designate those two people.
• Subsection (e) requires municipalities to label these voters as 'NONRESIDENT ELECTOR' on the official electors list.
• Subsection (f) ties precinct and district assignment for nonresident electors to the location of their qualifying property rather than their home address.
• Subsection (i) gives the State Election Board authority to issue rules and regulations for administering nonresident elector voting.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

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)

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