Georgia Election Overhaul Fails: Power Plays and Broken Promises

The failure of Georgia’s SB214 and HB397 bills, aimed at exiting ERIC, banning weekend absentee ballot drop-offs, and enhancing election integrity, which died on Sine Die, April 04, 2025. Despite past successes like SB189 (removing QR codes, adding scanners), the GA House opted for a study committee on voting systems and voter accuracy instead of voting on HB397, marking the first year since 2020 without election law changes. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s influence, bolstered by the Curling vs. Raffensperger dismissal, and his refusal to share voter rolls with the State Election Board, stalled progress. Governor Kemp and Speaker Burns resisted substantive bills, while the GA GOP fake support without pressuring lawmakers, leaving election integrity efforts unfulfilled.

A lot of people worked very hard on SB214 and HB397. We were told all the way up to the end that we would get out of ERIC. Last year SB189, there was a group of people that would be credited for that bill. The removal of the QR Code and 70M in new scanners. What they will tell you is that there is no need to spend the money because the next voting system will be in the next legislative session because the contract expires. The GA House let an election overhaul bill die Friday night failing to take a vote on proposals that would withdraw the state from voter registration accuracy organization and banned absentee ballot drop off the weekend before elections day. The bill’s defeat marks the first year since Trump's narrow loss in 2020 that GA republicans haven’t changed state election laws. Instead the house created a study committee to review A touch screen voting equipment, a possible switch to hand marked paper ballots and voter registration accuracy. There are enough studies on all the topics of these bills to make a decision. Who will be in this committee?
Why didn’t they get HB397, make it to vote? They were going to strip the vote down. It meant that it came back from the Senate and all they had to do was vote, but they wanted to strip the vote and send it back to the Senate then the Senate would have been the ones to pass it but the Senate adjourned at 9pm. Raffensperger is very powerful. He told them he was not giving the voter rolls to the State Election Board.
There is no coincidence in politics. Here is what you are being told. Brad Raffensperger is more powerful than you think. The ruling of Curling vs Raffenperger, his post on the dismissal on no standing, just days before the session ends. Totenberg comes out with ruling, Raffensperger puts out his tweets, ajc participates and goes after it hard, just days before the election bills hit the floor. The sec state office releases the removal of voter rolls due to ERIC. The entire time the bill was in the senate the GA GOP never worked to put pressure on the senate to have SB214 to move to the house. They took pictures but never put pressure on the house for paper ballots because President Trump has requested.
Jon Burns already knew that Brian Kemp did not want an election bill on his desk. At no time was Burns going to send a bill to Kemp that would have any teeth in it.
At the time that the GA GOP sent out the message to vote yes on HB397, when this came out there was a plea for the lawmakers to vote for it. The GA GOP already knew that Jon Burns was not going to move the bill. They gave the impression that they were working for election integrity.
Remember the AJC reports that this is the first year that republicans have not gotten an election bill passed.
Josh McKoon cannot retract their decision to put Kylie and Lisa on the ballot, they will continue to plow forward.