Comité Governmental Affairs de la Cámara de Representantes, 23 de junio de 2026

Transcripción

125 turnos. Seleccione un tiempo para reproducir ese momento del video.

1. 0:14:26

   Okay, if I can have everybody's attention, we're gonna, we're gonna get started. Waiting on our vice chair to get here. He had to step down the hall for a moment. But, uh, like to call this meeting to order. We're on a short timeframe this morning. This is House Governmental Affairs. Uh, like to begin by asking, uh, Majority Whip Burchett if he would offer an invocation for us real quickly. Let's see, what number are you right there?

2. 0:14:48

   20.

3. 0:14:49

   20.

4. 0:14:50

   Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let's, let's all bow. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessings you've bestowed upon us, Lord. Thank you for letting us put our feet on the ground this morning and fill our lungs with air. Lord, I pray that you continue to lead, guide, and direct this committee, this general assembly. And Lord, let us do your will in everything that we seek out here today, and let, let us do what's best for the State of Georgia and the folks of Georgia. And we ask all this in your Heavenly Son's name, Jesus Christ, amen.

5. 0:15:14

   Amen. Thank you. All right. Uh, this morning... And let me turn this volume down a little bit. I think we're a little too loud here. Uh, this morning we're gonna be, uh, considering this committee for action on a committee substitute to Senate Bill 3 EX. I'd like to invite Senator Chairman Burns to the table. And at this po- point, I would like to turn the microphone over to Vice Chair Thomas, and I'll join Senator Burns at the table to assist in presenting the committee sub.

6. 0:15:50

   All right. Thank you.

7. 0:15:52

   You're welcome.

8. 0:16:04

   Thank you, Mr. Wood.

9. 0:16:13

   Chairman Anderson.

10. 0:16:15

    Chairman.

11. 0:16:15

    You're recognized to go whenever you're ready.

12. 0:16:17

    Okay. Thank you. And, uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you committee. Uh, Senator Burns, thank you for, for your presentation yesterday of the, uh, uh, original bill that was passed out of the Senate. This is a, uh, a substitute. We are working from LC474416S. Uh, the basis of this bill, we started with what was passed in the Senate, working with House leadership and Senate leadership.

13. 0:16:48

    We have come to a, uh, a, an agreement that we feel like both chambers can participate in. And I'll real quickly go through some of the, the changes, let me get my copy out here, that were made from the version that we discussed yesterday, and, uh, with assistance from, uh, Chairman Burns to make sure I don't miss something. Uh, the first change that we have will be on line 22. The, uh, language discussed yesterday, uh, stated that the committee that would be put in place, uh, shall, uh, basically dictate the specifications, standards, requirements of a new uniform system of election equipment.

14. 0:17:35

    We've changed that to shall recommend the specifications, et cetera, to that. That, that language, uh, matches language later in the bill, and, uh, hopefully, uh, prohibits us from violation of a, uh, delegation or separation of powers provisions. That was the first change. The, uh, next change was section two. We have replaced the section two that came from the, uh, the Senate version with, uh, new language.

15. 0:18:06

    And in essence, what we have done, currently in law, uh, in an election where there is a half a percent or less difference between the, uh, declared winner and the next, or any other candidate in that race, uh, the, the losing candidate has the option to request a recount. That is an optional. Uh, that recount is typically done by, uh, just re-scanning the ballots to do that. What we are doing with this is we are basically saying that if there is half percent or less difference in the top two state level, statewide position rates, races, which would typically be the governor and lieutenant governor, if it's within a half a percent, then it becomes a mandatory recount that would be a hand count, and that would be funded by the state.

16. 0:18:57

    So this, there's a provision in here that the state would reimburse the counties for the expense of that recount. So, uh, that's the, that's the biggest change to the bill that we had, was replacing that, uh, uh, mandatory recount for the top two races to basically only races that are close enough to possibly make a difference. Uh, aside from that, uh, we just had a couple of little, uh, changes that were related to that.

17. 0:19:30

    Uh, we still have the enhanced, uh, risk-limiting audit. In other words, we've increased the number of races covered under the risk-limiting audit and adjusted the language to accommodate that, uh, and accommodate the change to the, uh, hand count provision. So I think, Senator.

18. 0:19:47

    Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, again, uh, committee, I appreciate your, uh, diligence and your work. I appreciate the chairman, uh, making recommendations that both Um, bodies can be comfortable with. And I, as is, as in every piece of legislation, it's a process, and in most processes, uh, no one, uh, party gets everything that they'd like to see. But at the end of the day, I think we've landed at a place that makes sense for Georgia, and it's time for us to, to put it on the table and, and, uh, cast our votes and support the folks.

19. 0:20:21

    So I support the bill. I support the changes. I would, I would certainly say it's been a process, and I appreciate the input from the House.

20. 0:20:32

    All right. Well, thank you all very much. I- we've got a couple questions. I'm gonna go ahead and recognize them. Um, being that we start at 8:00 this morning, we'll, we're gonna try and keep this, uh, to the point. So all right, uh, 16, Representative Sanchez.

21. 0:20:47

    Thank you, Chair. Thank you for this. Um, so we're trying to... I, I know we've already litigated the hand recount. I still don't understand why we're trying to do a hand recount when it's clearly less, you know, it does not work as well as a regular count, recount. But regardless, uh, s- we've already litigated that yesterday. What I want to ask about is does this language decide which will be taken priority? Will the hand recount be the priority number when you're trying to correct it, or will it be the machine count that will be the priority when it's, when you're correcting the errors?

22. 0:21:22

    How will we verify which one is being used to actually say which is the right one, and is there anything in the language that tells us?

23. 0:21:30

    Uh, i- if, if I may, if you will look at line 78 and following, "If upon such recount it is determined that the original count was incorrect, returns and all papers prepared by the superintendents or the secretary of state shall be corrected pursuant to subsection I of code section 21-2-493, and the results recertified." So what we've done is we've clarified to, uh, the points that were made yesterday that current code provides a mechanism by which a recount will be conducted, and then which of the counts are actually ultimately certified.

24. 0:22:14

    Okay, and then the last question, if this is, i- if this is, recount does come up, does that mean, uh, we're, um, having to delay certification and delay who declares, who's declared the winner? And so for example, say, on election night, they declare something, someone won by, say, .4%, would this mean that the, that, that declaration is no longer valid and we have to go back to recertification? How, what's the, what's the process on this? And un- uh, I'm thinking on voter confidence side of things, right?

25. 0:22:43

    On, on election night, uh, those are not certified results.

26. 0:22:47

    Right.

27. 0:22:47

    Those are preliminary results. Counties have six days?

28. 0:22:51

    Six days.

29. 0:22:51

    S- six days to certify the election. If in that certification they determine that a race would trigger a count, a manual count, then they have the 17 days to complete that count per secretary of state's, uh, statewide certification. So there should be no delay in the, um, results of an election being made public.

30. 0:23:14

    Just, just to add to that, this, this does not replace nor, uh, uh, nullify the current ability for candidates to challenge a race that is within a half percent. Uh, and there is already a procedure to follow that. All this does is instead of making that a, uh, a, a voluntary or at, at request process for these two races, it becomes an automatic process.

31. 0:23:38

    All right. Thank you.

32. 0:23:40

    Representative, or I'm sorry, Chairman Leverett.

33. 0:23:43

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, thank you, uh, gentlemen, for your explanation of the bill. One, one feature it would appear to me that we've also done here is we've tried to stretch the time out for the hand count by contemplating that this may not happen after certification, would require recertification, which is, is, I think, based on the current procedure for requesting a tabulation, uh, recount when you're within the, the margin of error under paragraph C of this section.

34. 0:24:15

    Is that correct?

35. 0:24:17

    That i- that is correct.

36. 0:24:17

    Okay.

37. 0:24:21

    Okay. We'll see next, uh, Representative Mary Mar- Margaret Oliver.

38. 0:24:27

    Good morning, gentlemen. I wanna understand the timing of this more clearly. As a candidate that's within one half percent if I'm running for governor or lieutenant-governor, there is no deadline or is there a timetable where I can request it's an automatic recount. So there's no timetable for the candidate to make a decision if it's in, within one half percent.

39. 0:24:51

    That is correct.

40. 0:24:51

    Correct.

41. 0:24:52

    And the county does not, is not required or still, still required to certify in six days the winner, even if the county has not completed the hand count.

42. 0:25:05

    Well, uh, first of all, the, um-

43. 0:25:06

    And, excuse me

44. 0:25:07

    ... oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, yeah.

45. 0:25:07

    And then, and then the second part of the timing, 'cause I'll put these timings together, if the county doesn't have to certify in the first six days, this bill allows the county to do so between six and 17 days. But it's after certification this hand count may happen by the county.

46. 0:25:29

    The c- the county certification, first of all, the, uh, on the evening of the election, I think the, the state will know if we have a race within the margin, and that would immediately cause the county to move to a mandated count of the ballots. They would have six days to complete that and provide county certification. But this legislation triggers on the s- secretary of state certification in 17 days.

47. 0:26:00

    So they must complete all, um, mandated counts by Secretary of State certification.

48. 0:26:09

    Within 17 days.

49. 0:26:10

    17 days. But they know on the day of the election that a count is necessary, and they can immediately begin that process. This bill provides resources to ensure that that process is completed.

50. 0:26:30

    Thank you.

51. 0:26:34

    Mr. Representative Fleming.

52. 0:26:35

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At the appropriate time, I'd like to offer an amendment.

53. 0:26:38

    Okay. I've, I got a couple more quest- well, I've got one more question, so-

54. 0:26:42

    Thank you

55. 0:26:42

    ... we'll take that question, and then I'll recognize you.

56. 0:26:47

    Yours is amendment also? Okay. All right. Well, in that case, uh, that concludes all of our questions on this. Um, I'm gonna go ahead, um, and, uh, recognize Representative Fleming. Go ahead if you want to make your amendment.

57. 0:27:01

    Thank you, Mr. Chair-

58. 0:27:01

    No, I'm sorry. Not yet, not yet.

59. 0:27:03

    Oh.

60. 0:27:03

    Hold on a minute. First thing I need a motion.

61. 0:27:05

    So moved.

62. 0:27:06

    All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

63. 0:27:07

    Second.

64. 0:27:08

    All right, motion and a second. Okay, now, now we've got that, at this point I'll recognize a, a motion for an amendment. All right, Representative Fleming, Fleming, go ahead.

65. 0:27:17

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I make the motion that we amend, um, LC474416S on line 23 after the word equipment by inserting the following language, "Based upon hand-marked paper ballots produced utilizing ballot-on-demand printing."

66. 0:27:40

    Second.

67. 0:27:42

    23.

68. 0:27:44

    Can you just read that one more time for me?

69. 0:27:46

    Yeah. After equipment, inserting, "Based upon hand-marked paper ballots produced utilizing ballot-on-demand printing."

70. 0:27:58

    Second the motion.

71. 0:27:59

    All right. Legislative Council, you got that? All right, we got thumbs up. All right, so at this point ... I'm sorry?

72. 0:28:08

    Need that.

73. 0:28:08

    Yeah, that, actually, thank you. Yeah, just keep that as part of my records. So at this point we got a motion and a second. A- all those in favor of the Fleming Amendment say aye.

74. 0:28:17

    Question. Question.

75. 0:28:18

    Well, I'm sorry. We can open it for discussion. Thank you. It's a little early. Y'all bear with me. All right. So we open it for discussion. Is there any discussion on the amendment? All right. We got, we got one. Mary Margaret Oliver.

76. 0:28:29

    Tell me what this means. Tell me why we need this.

77. 0:28:32

    So this is basically what was outlined in SB 214 that we passed, um, in the regular session about outlining what the next future statewide system would look like and be. Uh, all this is saying is that we're going to, uh, hand-mark paper ballots pro- produced by on-demand ballot printing.

78. 0:28:52

    Does that mean a particular vendor, a particular set of vendors, or-

79. 0:28:55

    No, ma'am

80. 0:28:55

    ... what does it mean in terms of a process then?

81. 0:28:58

    Okay.

82. 0:28:58

    That's what I'm confused about.

83. 0:28:59

    It, this commit- this committee, th- this would give them the focus on what the next statewide system would look like. And they would put up recommendations around what this system would look like moving forward.

84. 0:29:10

    Do we have any idea whether the Senate would agree to this? Because the theoretical opportunity we have in the way the bill was presented to us is that there was an agreement between the House and the Senate.

85. 0:29:21

    Well, I can tell you, Representative, um, if there was an agreement upon it us in the Senate, I would not be bringing that amendment.

86. 0:29:29

    Chairman.

87. 0:29:30

    Chairman Anderson, do you recognize this to be friendly amendment?

88. 0:29:32

    I, I do, and, uh, and I will just mention, too, that this is the premise that, uh, Senate Bill 214 that the House passed overwhelmingly on sine die, uh, was, was written under also. So this is not, uh, this is not a new concept that this, this committee and our house has, has, uh, vetted and, and discussed and even adopted, so.

89. 0:29:53

    Okay. All right.

90. 0:29:54

    If, if I may, Mr. Chairman.

91. 0:29:55

    Yeah, e- absolutely, Mr. Senator.

92. 0:29:57

    I, I believe that the Senate would find this amendment as friendly.

93. 0:29:59

    All right, great. That's good to know. Uh, that, so at this point we have one more question of, uh, Representative Sanchez.

94. 0:30:07

    Thank you, Chair. Um, I think that this is beyond the scope of what we're trying to do in this special session. We're trying to fix a QR code issue, not create a vendor bill to give a specific vendor. The question is, how many vendors can actually match what the specific language that you've put in this bill?

95. 0:30:24

    Well, Representative-

96. 0:30:25

    Hold on a minute. Let the attorney mic back on. Yeah.

97. 0:30:28

    Well, Representative, this is not a vendor bill. Uh, I'm not aware of what vendors are out there that can deal with this or can't deal with this. This is just setting, um, the parameters around what this committee will look at as far as our next statewide voting system.

98. 0:30:41

    All right. Thank you.

99. 0:30:43

    All right. Concluding discussion. Now, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? No. No. No. Okay, I, the, the ruling the chair's ayes have it. All right, so that handles the Fleming Amendment. I'm gonna recognize Repres- Representative Bazemore.

100. 0:31:01

     Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair, and good morning. Thank you, Senator, and thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to present an amendment on page three, um, starting at line 61 to 85. That'll be eliminated from this bill.

101. 0:31:21

     Second.

102. 0:31:24

     Okay. Just one more time, make sure I hear you right. F- f- from what line item d- uh, from what line to what line?

103. 0:31:30

     Line 61-

104. 0:31:32

     Okay

105. 0:31:33

     ... on page three to line 85 on page four.

106. 0:31:38

     So basically, effectively removing section two.

107. 0:31:41

     Yes.

108. 0:31:42

     All right. Well, open it up for discussion. We have a motion and a second.

109. 0:31:49

     Stewart.

110. 0:31:49

     Oh, S- Stewart?

111. 0:31:50

     Um, i- if we're, if that amendment passes, we'd also need to update the title to, uh, reflect that. So if the motion could be amended to also allow me to make conforming changes to the title, I'd appreciate it.

112. 0:32:03

     Okay.

113. 0:32:03

     Uh, do you-

114. 0:32:04

     Yes, that's fine.

115. 0:32:04

     Okay. All right. So, uh, in that case, w- we'll open this up for discussion. Seeing none, we'll just, uh, we've got motion, second, so all those in favor of the Bazemore Amendment, say aye. Aye. All those opposed? No. Uh, ruling of the chair is no's, uh, have it. I'm sorry, your motion fails.

116. 0:32:23

     Hand count. We gotta do a hand count.

117. 0:32:24

     Yeah, I'll recognize hand count. All right. If those who are in favor of the Bazemore Amendment, please raise your hand. And that we're-

118. 0:32:36

     Three, four, five, six, seven.

119. 0:32:37

     All right, so seven. Those opposed, please raise your hand.

120. 0:32:41

     One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13.

121. 0:32:49

     Okay, 13. S- the motion p- fails. All right. Again, through the amendments at this point, that leaves us into the original motion. Um, so all those in favor of, all those in favor of passage for SB 3EX LC474416S, say aye. Aye. As amended.

122. 0:33:17

     As amended.

123. 0:33:18

     As amended. Say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Okay, ayes have it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Burns, we appreciate you all coming over-

124. 0:33:29

     Thank you. Thank you

125. 0:33:29

     ... and we'll see you on the floor. And for that, this, uh, meeting's adjourned. Man, I'll tell you what. This is what I get for not sleeping last night.