GA legislative records: on Government Reform


Brian Kemp: Require voter ID to ensure purity of elections

Legislative Summary: A BILL relating to form of proper identification at polls, so as to change the forms of identification that are acceptable at the polls. It shall be the duty of the State Election Board to obtain uniformity in their practices and proceedings and legality and purity in all primaries and elections. Each voter shall present proper identification to a poll worker prior to admission to the polling place. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following: A Georgia driver's license; a valid Georgia voter identification card; or a valid United States passport.

Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 32-22-0 on Jan. 24, vote #599; Sen. Kemp voted YES; passed House 111-60-6 on Jan. 25, vote #564; signed by Gov. Perdue Jan. 26.

Source: Georgia legislative voting records: SB 84 Jan 24, 2006

Casey Cagle: Require voter ID to ensure purity of elections

Legislative Summary: A BILL relating to form of proper identification at polls, so as to change the forms of identification that are acceptable at the polls. It shall be the duty of the State Election Board to obtain uniformity in their practices and proceedings and legality and purity in all primaries and elections. Each voter shall present proper identification to a poll worker prior to admission to the polling place. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following: A Georgia driver's license; a valid Georgia voter identification card; or a valid United States passport.

Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 32-22-0 on Jan. 24, vote #599; Sen. Cagle voted YES; passed House 111-60-6 on Jan. 25, vote #564; signed by Gov. Perdue Jan. 26.

Source: Georgia legislative voting records: SB 84 Jan 24, 2006

Keisha Lance Bottoms: Opposes plan for state to take control of Atlanta airport

A plan for the state to take over control of Atlanta's airport introduced by Republican state Sen. Burt Jones, would create the Georgia Major Airport Authority. The airport is currently owned by the city. Bottoms has come out against the proposal, calling it "theft" from Atlanta.

The legislation would create the Georgia Major Airport Authority, a board appointed by state officials to oversee operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Sen. Jones said state control is needed because of corruption issues in the procurement process. Critics say those issues involved past administrations and that Bottoms has taken steps to reform the process.

Source: Associated Press on Georgia legislative voting records Mar 7, 2019

Sonny Perdue: Require voter ID to ensure purity of elections

Legislative Summary: A BILL relating to form of proper identification at polls, so as to change the forms of identification that are acceptable at the polls. It shall be the duty of the State Election Board to obtain uniformity in their practices and proceedings and legality and purity in all primaries and elections. Each voter shall present proper identification to a poll worker prior to admission to the polling place. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following: A Georgia driver's license; a valid Georgia voter identification card; or a valid United States passport.

Legislative Outcome: Passed Senate 32-22-0 on Jan. 24, vote #599; passed House 111-60-6 on Jan. 25, vote #564; signed by Gov. Perdue Jan. 26.

Source: Georgia legislative voting records: SB 84 Jan 24, 2006

Stacey Abrams: Exact-match process violates Voting Rights Act

HB 268: Seeks to void a recent federal court settlement requiring the Secretary of State to refine its voter registration process to exclude the "exact matching" process that led to the unlawful cancellation more than 30,000 voter registration applications since 2013. The bill would also require non-partisan voter information groups and Election Protection groups providing to move their tables or booths beyond the 150 foot barrier and at least 25 feet away from voters standing in line--depending upon the length and location of lines of voters throughout the course of Election Day.

MY VOTE: NO. HB 268 would negatively impact reforms recently agreed to by the Secretary of State in the federal settlement of the "exact match" federal voting rights lawsuit and would likely lead to further expensive and time-consuming litigation. Furthermore, it likely violates the First Amendment, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act.

Source: 2018 campaign website on Georgia voting record HB 268 Mar 30, 2017

Stacey Abrams: Stop redistricting voters of color to dilute their votes

HB 515: This bill amends the boundaries of multiple House legislative districts. Of most concern, the new map packs African-American voters from Republican HD 40 into heavily Democratic HD 53. In HD 111, the revised maps continue a process initiated in 2015 to dilute black votes by shifting voters into adjacent districts and by adding white voters to the district in 2017.

MY VOTE: NO. Voters of color are facing increased inconvenience by repeated shifts in their districts, in order to accommodate diminished GOP voting strength. With each redrawing of the lines, voters of color are shifted to new legislators and divided from neighbors.

Source: 2018 campaign website on Georgia voting record HB 515 Mar 30, 2017

Vernon Jones: Exact-match process doesn't violate Voting Rights Act

HB 268: Seeks to void a recent federal court settlement requiring the Secretary of State to refine its voter registration process to exclude the "exact matching" process that led to the unlawful cancellation more than 30,000 voter registration applications since 2013. The bill would also require non-partisan voter information groups and Election Protection groups to move at least 25 feet away from voters standing in line throughout the course of Election Day.Speaker Stacey Abrams opinion in support of voting NO: HB 268 would negatively impact reforms recently agreed to by the Secretary of State in the federal settlement of the "exact match" federal voting rights lawsuit and would likely lead to further expensive and time- consuming litigation. Furthermore, it likely violates the First Amendment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act.

Legislative Outcome:Passed House 102-48-30 on Mar/24/17; State Rep. Vernon Jones voted YES

Source: Speaker Stacey Abrams website on Georgia voting record HB268 Mar 24, 2017

Vernon Jones: Stop redistricting voters of color to dilute their votes

Legislative Summary: HB 515: This bill amends the boundaries of multiple House legislative districts. Of most concern, the new map packs African-American voters from Republican HD 40 into heavily Democratic HD 53. In HD 111, the revised maps continue a process initiated in 2015 to dilute black votes by shifting voters into adjacent districts and by adding white voters to the district in 2017.

Speaker Stacey Abrams opinion in support of voting NO: Voters of color are facing increased inconvenience by repeated shifts in their districts, in order to accommodate diminished GOP voting strength. With each redrawing of the lines, voters of color are shifted to new legislators and divided from neighbors.

Legislative Outcome: Passed House 108-59-13 on Mar/3/17; State Rep. Vernon Jones voted NO

Source: Speaker Stacey Abrams website on Georgia voting record HB515 Mar 3, 2017

  • The above quotations are from Legislative voting records for Georgia House and Senate.
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Candidates and political leaders on Government Reform:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 13, 2023