A new bill in the Georgia House aims to return the Secretary of State to the helm of the State Election Board, marking a potential shift back to the state’s traditional election oversight structure.
📋 What We Know: Democratic Representative Floyd Griffin of Milledgeville introduced House Bill 40, which would place Georgia’s Secretary of State back in charge of the State Election Board. The General Assembly currently selects the board’s chair.
👥 Who Made it Happen: Representative Griffin, a former state senator now serving his first term in the House, leads the charge to restructure election board leadership.
⚖️ Why It Matters: This change would reverse a recent law that gave the General Assembly power to select the election board chair. The proposed legislation would restore the system Georgia used for years before the recent modification.
🔍 What’s Different: Under current law, both the House and Senate must pass a joint resolution by majority vote to select the chair, with the governor’s certification required. The new bill would eliminate this process, automatically making the Secretary of State the chairperson.
⏭️ What’s Next: The bill must clear several legislative hurdles, including committee review and votes in both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, before it can become law.
🤝 Take Action: Your voice in Georgia’s democratic process matters. Stay informed about changes to election oversight and participate in public discussions about how our elections are managed.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
