ATLANTA — When voters went to the polls Tuesday, there were some changes from the last time they voted.
The state’s new election law put in place new provisions for people who voted early or absentee.
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Last year, there were absentee ballot drop boxes lined up outside DeKalb County’s election headquarters and at several locations around the county. By law, those are gone now.
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One of the biggest impacts of Senate Bill 202 for Election Day voters was if you accidentally went to the wrong polling place.
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“They won’t be able to just go anywhere, they need to go to their registered polling place,” said Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler.
Eveler said where previously you could cast a provisional ballot, now you must go to the correct location unless it’s between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
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It’s just one provision of Georgia’s 98-page new voting law.
“Standing up a lot of election reform measures to help restore confidence,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Much of the law focused on tighter rules for early absentee voting, moving drop boxes indoors and getting rid of signature matches. Raffensperger said that adds security.
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“Moving away from signature match and moving to driver’s license is something I ran on in 2018 because it’s an objective measure,” Raffensperger said.
But critics of the new law counter that it makes it harder for some voters to exercise their constitutional right.
“The real concern is that SB-202, the way that it is written, the way that it targets voters of color that voted last year may be disproportionately impacted by its provisions,” said Aklima Khondoker, of the New Georgia Project.
A notable change is that it’ll be a misdemeanor to hand out water or food to voters in line or for voters to accept it.
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