History. Code 1981, § 21-2-139 , enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1190, § 7; Ga. L. 1985, p. 496, § 4; Ga. L. 1994, p. 131, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 269, § 10; Ga. L. 2005, p. 253, § 18/HB 244; Ga. L. 2011, p. 678, § 4/HB 158; Ga. L. 2012, p. 995, § 9/SB 92; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1112, § 21/SB 365.
The 2018 amendment, effective May 8, 2018, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “local boards of education” for “local school boards” in the middle of the first sentence of subsection (a).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 1983, p. 1190, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provided that it was the intent of that Act to implement the provisions of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. VII, Para. I.
Ga. L. 2012, p. 995, § 45/SB 92, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Section 9 of this Act is not intended by the General Assembly to change the effect of existing law but only to clarify the intent of the General Assembly in enacting the original legislation.”
Ga. L. 2012, p. 995, § 46(b)/SB 92, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Section 9 of this Act shall become effective on the first date upon which candidates may begin qualifying for the general primary in 2012; provided, however, that if implementation of Section 9 is not permissible on such date under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, then Section 9 shall become effective on January 1, 2013.”
The United States Department of Justice objected to Section 9 (which added the sixth and seventh sentences in subsection (a)) under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, on December 21, 2012. However, in the case of Howard v. Augusta-Richmond County Commission, Case No. 1:14-cv-00097-JRH-BKE, Unit-ed States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Augusta Division, decided May 13, 2014, the court found that, in light of the holding of the United States Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holden, 133 S. Ct. 2612 , 186 L. Ed. 2 d 651 (2013), such objection under Section 5 was unenforceable and Section 9 was effective.
Administrative rules and regulations.
Ballot secrecy, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Election Code, Ballots, § 183-1-11-.01.
Law reviews.
For note on the 2001 amendment of this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 96 (2001).