ATLANTA — Some Georgia voters could vote by mail in every election if a bipartisan bill in the legislature were to become law. The bill would create a permanent list of absentee voters.
Of the nearly four million people who voted in Georgia in 2018, less than six out of a hundred voted absentee.
To vote absentee, a voter has to apply for an absentee ballot for each election. That means the voter has to
- Fill out the application;
- Mail, fax, or email it to the county election office;
- The absentee ballot is mailed back to the voter;
- Then the voter mails in the completed ballot.
State Senator Elena Parent (D-Atlanta) thinks it should be easier.
Her bill "makes it easier for people who prefer to vote by absentee ballot," she said. "They have to continually request the ballots now. This would allow them to sign up once and get on the list."
SB 409 would let voters get on a “permanent absentee ballot list” and allowing them to essentially vote by mail.
Four states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington – conduct all of their elections by mail. Four more allow some or all counties to have mail-in elections. Another 8 have provisions for mail-in elections under some circumstances. Five more allow vote-by-mail in some of their smallest communities.
Georgia has no vote by mail option – unless the voter requests an absentee ballot.
11Alive asked Parent if this would nudge Georgia among the states voting by mail.
"I guess it would be a small step in that direction. Certainly not the statewide vote by mail programs that (other states) have in place. It would be a way for Georgians to test out voting that way. It could be part of a conversation," Parent said.
Parent has one Republican co-sponsor for her absentee voting bill and said she hopes to get a committee hearing on it in the next few days.
MORE NEWS