---
title: O.C.G.A. § 21-2-18. Payment for costs of elections; no solicitation of additional funding.
collection: code
id: 21-2-18
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 21-2-18 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/21-2-18
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/21-2-18.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/21-2-18/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t21-(v18)-2023-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=868a5c43_0#page=64
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/21-2.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: ELECTIONS / ELECTIONS AND PRIMARIES GENERALLY / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 21-2-18. Payment for costs of elections; no solicitation of additional funding.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) “Government employee” means any individual, committee, entity, or group acting in concert who are employed by a county or municipal government. Such term shall include, but not be limited to, election superintendents, registrars, poll workers, and the agents and employees thereof.

(2) “Person” means any individual, proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust, company, association, committee, corporation, whether operated for profit or not, or any other organization of a group of persons acting in concert, or any other nongovernmental third-party entity.

(b) All costs and expenses related to conducting primaries, elections, runoffs, or other undertakings authorized or required by this chapter shall be paid from lawfully appropriated public funds.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no county or municipal government, government employee, or election official shall solicit, take, or otherwise accept from any person a contribution, donation, service, or anything else of value for the purpose of conducting primaries or elections or in support of performing his or her duties under this chapter.

(d) This Code section shall not apply to the donation or use of locations for voting purposes, services provided by individuals without remuneration, or goods that have nominal value of less than $500.00.

(e) Violation of this Code section shall constitute a felony, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year and by a fine of not less than $10,000.00.

## History

Code 1981, § 21-2-18, enacted by Ga. L. 2023, p. 563, § 2/SB 222, effective May 3, 2023.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2023, p. 563, § 1/SB 222, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “The General Assembly finds that the addition of Code Section 21-2-18 and the revisions to Code Sections 21-2-71 and 21-2-212 in this bill should not be interpreted as an admission by the General Assembly that existing law did not already ban the outside funding of election administration in Georgia. These clarifications and enhancements were deemed necessary because there seemed to be some confusion among certain Georgia counties as to the correct interpretation of existing law.”

## Effective Date

This Code section became effective May 3, 2023.