Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 183 - RULES OF STATE ELECTION BOARD
Chapter 183-1 - GEORGIA ELECTION CODE
Subject 183-1-6 - REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS
Rule 183-1-6-.02 - Rules for Voter Registration by Private Entities
Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 183-1-6-.02
Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1) Intent and Purpose. These rules are promulgated pursuant to the authority granted to the State Election Board by Georgia Laws 1984, p. 1430, (O.C.G.A. Section 21-2-215(f)) and by Georgia Laws 1968, p. 862, (O.C.G.A. Section 21-2-31). It is the intent and purpose of the State Election Board to establish reasonable, necessary, and uniform rules and regulations to carry out the responsibilities of the State of Georgia with respect to the registration of voters in Georgia.
For the benefit and protection of those citizens who choose to entrust their completed voter registration applications to private entities and for the benefit and protection of the public and the fair administration of the electoral process, the State Election Board has promulgated these rules for voter registration by private entities. The State Election Board, within the parameters of the law, has taken care to make voter registration in Georgia as convenient and easy as practicable while retaining the necessary controls to prevent abuse of the system and fraud in the elective process. To this end, the State Election Board has promulgated these rules and regulations.
(2) Definitions. As used in this rule, unless otherwise noted, the term:
(a) "Close of registration" means the last
day for the registration of voters in a primary or general election, as
provided by law.
(b) "Private
entity" means an individual who is not acting in an official capacity as a
registrar or deputy registrar, or a non-governmental organization or other
non-governmental entity that utilizes individuals other than registrars or
deputy registrars to conduct voter registration programs.
(c) "Voter registration programs" means the
distribution or collection of voter registration applications.
(3) Acceptance of Mail Voter Registration Applications.
(a) A voter
registration application postmarked or received by the Secretary of State or a
registrar or deputy registrar within the time frames provided by law for the
registration of electors shall be processed without regard to whether such
application was received by mail or otherwise, was submitted singularly or
bundled with other voter registration applications, or was submitted by a
private entity. No board of registrars shall reject or refuse to process a
voter registration application solely on the basis of how or by whom it was
submitted.
(b) Any mail voter
registration application received from a private entity (other than from an
individual delivering his or her own application to a state or local election
official in person) shall be processed in the same manner as an application
received by mail, regardless of the manner in which such application was
actually delivered.
(c) Nothing in
this rule shall be construed to prohibit or in any manner restrict the right of
any board of registrars or other authority from investigating and addressing
suspected instances of voter registration fraud or to challenge, examine,
verify, or determine the validity of voter registration applications or the
qualifications and eligibility of persons applying to register to
vote.
(4) Voter Registration Activities of Private Entities. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to prevent private entities from conducting organized voter registration programs and assisting eligible citizens with voter registration as permitted by state or federal law, including the distribution, collection, and transmittal of mail voter registration applications to the appropriate board of registrars.
(5) Instruction and Training of Private Entities.
(a) Instruction and training for private
entity voter registration activities pursuant to this rule shall be offered by
the board of registrars. Training requests by private entities shall be made in
writing to the board of registrars. The board of registrars shall respond in
writing to such requests with a training confirmation, including the date,
time, and location such training will take place.
(b) At a minimum, training shall be provided
to each private entity who requests such training on:
1. How to complete the voter registration
application designed, published, and distributed by the Secretary of State in
accordance with O.C.G.A. Section
21-2-223;
2. The proper security of completed voter
registration applications;
3. The
time frames within which completed voter registration applications are required
to be transmitted to the appropriate board of registrars;
4. The identification requirements to be
included with completed voter registration applications;
5. The identification requirements for voting
at polling places within the state and the requirements for persons who
registered to vote for the first time by mail; and
6. The required and prohibited activities of
private entities as set forth in paragraphs (6) and (7) of this rule.
(c) The Secretary of
State may develop and provide to the boards of registrars manuals for this
instruction. The Secretary of State may also make such manuals available to the
public, including via electronic means on the Secretary of State's website.
Until such time as the Secretary of State develops such manuals, boards of
registrars shall utilize such materials as will meet the training requirements
of this rule.
(6) Required Activities. While engaging in organized voter registration activity within this state, a private entity shall:
(a) Advise each applicant that such applicant
has the option to return his or her voter registration application personally
to the appropriate board of registrars or to the Secretary of State or to
permit the private entity to return it on the applicant's behalf;
(b) Inform all applicants that they are not
officially registered to vote until their eligibility has been determined by
the appropriate board of registrars and that, if the applicant has not received
notification of the disposition of the application within two weeks of
submitting the application, the applicant should contact the appropriate board
of registrars to determine if such applicant's eligibility has been determined
and the applicant's name entered on the official list of electors;
(c) Inform all applicants that, if they are
registering to vote for the first time in the jurisdiction by mail or through a
private entity, they must present current and valid identification either when
registering to vote by mail or through a private entity or when voting for the
first time after registering to vote by mail or through a private
entity;
(d) Inform all applicants
that they are required to:
(1) List their
Georgia driver's license of Georgia state issued ID number if one has been
issued;
(2) List the last four
digits of their social security number if the applicants have not been issued a
Georgia driver's license or Georgia state issued ID; and
(3) Indicate on the form if they do not have
a Georgia driver's license, Georgia state issued ID, or social security
number;
(7) Prohibited Activities
(a)
Represent to any person that the private entity is a representative of the
Secretary of State or a board of registrars authorized by law to receive voter
registration applications in person;
(b) Make any statement to an applicant or
take any action that the private entity knows or reasonably should know would
discourage a qualified applicant from registering to vote;
(c) Refuse to accept and transmit a properly
completed and contemporaneously dated voter registration application from any
qualified individual;
(d) Be
inebriated or otherwise impaired by drugs, alcohol, or other
substances;
(e) Conduct voter
registration activities at locations where the private entity knows that
illegal or criminal activities are being conducted near the voter registration
activities;
(f) Accept a completed
registration application from the applicant unless such application has been
sealed by the application, without a signed acknowledgement from the applicant
that the applicant willingly and knowingly provided the unsealed application to
the private entity;
(g) Copy a
completed registration application without the express, written permission of
the applicant;
(h) Conduct voter
registration activities in places where the primary purpose of that place is
the sale and consumption alcoholic beverages; and
(i) Tell applicants that they did not have to
their Georgia driver's license or identification card number on the voter
registration application if the applicant has been issued a Georgia driver's
license or identification card.
(8) Transmittal of Completed Voter Registration Applications.
(a) A
private entity shall promptly transmit all completed voter registration
applications to the Secretary of State or the appropriate board of registrars
within ten days after receiving the application or by the close of
registration, whichever period is earlier. If a private entity receives a
completed voter registration application fourteen days or less before the close
of registration, the private entity should transmit the application to the
Secretary of State or the appropriate board of registrars within seventy-two
hours of the date of the execution of the application or by midnight on the
close of registration, whichever period is earlier.
(b) Transmittal of completed voter
registration applications may be accomplished by in-person delivery, mail,
commercial courier, statutory overnight delivery, or any other form of delivery
that is reasonably calculated to secure and ensure the confidential delivery
and receipt of such applications by the Secretary of State or the appropriate
board of registrars within three business days after transmittal and within the
time frames required by these rules and regulations and state and federal
law.
(c) With each transmittal of
completed voter registration applications, a private entity should include a
transmittal summary sheet which, at a minimum, provides the name of the
submitting individual, the name of the private entity sponsoring the voter
registration programs (if different than the submitting individual), the
physical residence or business address of the submitting individual, the
daytime and evening telephone numbers of the submitting individual, and the
total number of applications being submitted. The Secretary of State may design
and make available to private entities a model transmittal summary sheet
containing the information requested in this subparagraph. The failure to
include the transmittal summary sheet shall not by itself be grounds for
rejecting the submitted applications. The private entity may enclose a
postage-prepaid, self-addressed envelope, along with a copy of the completed
transmittal summary sheet, if the private entity desires a date stamped receipt
of the transmittal summary sheet from the board of registrars, in which case
the board of registrars shall promptly acknowledge such receipt by returning a
date stamped copy of the transmittal summary sheet to the private
entity.
(9) Confidentiality of Completed Voter Registration Applications.
(a) A private entity shall keep all completed
original voter registration applications in the possession of the private
entity in a secure and confidential manner at all times until such applications
are submitted to the Secretary of State or the appropriate board of registrars.
Except as otherwise provided in this rule, a private entity shall not disclose
any such applications or information contained therein, except as specifically
provided in these rules and regulations to any member of the public. A private
entity may collaborate with another affiliated private entity in the securing
of completed original voter registration applications that are received during
the course of a jointly organized voter registration program.
(b) With the express, written consent of the
applicant, a private entity may make archival copies of an applicant's original
voter registration application and retain such archival copies for use in
aiding the applicant with verifying the timely and proper receipt and
processing of his/her application by the applicable board of registrars. A
private entity may engage the services of a commercial copying or document
management service to make such archival copies provided that the company
agrees to maintain the confidentiality and security of the original
applications and any copies of the applications in the same manner as is
required by private entities pursuant this rule.
(c) A private entity shall keep any such
archival copies in a secure and confidential manner at all times and shall not
disclose any such archival copies to any member of the public; provided,
however, that a private entity may disclose such archival copies to another
affiliated private entity as necessary for use in aiding the applicant with
verifying the timely and proper receipt and processing of his/her application
by the applicable board of registrars. Archival copies of completed voter
registration applications must be discarded by the private entity not later
than 90 days following the transmittal of the completed voter registration
application to the Secretary of State or board of registrars. Whenever such
archival copies are discarded by the private entity, they must be discarded in
the manner contemplated by O.C.G.A. §
10-15-2for the destruction by
businesses of records containing personal information.
(d) A private entity may create and keep a
separate record of any information contained on the applicant's voter
registration application that could otherwise be made available for public
inspection pursuant to O.C.G.A. §
21-2-225(b)if
collected and maintained by the Secretary of State on the official list of
electors. No such information may be used by the private entity or any other
person for commercial purposes. Whenever such information is discarded by the
private entity, it must be discarded in the manner contemplated by O.C.G.A.
§
10-15-2for the destruction by
businesses of records containing personal information.
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-31.
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