Transcript of the seminar on the Georgia Election Code conducted by the State Election Board on August 6 and 7, 1964, in the chamber of the House of Representatives in the State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia

MEMBERSH IP OF
STATE ELECTION BOARD
BEN W. FORTSON, JR., Ohairman Secretary of State S tate of Georgia 214 State Capitol Atlanta, Georgia 30334
MRS. MbLBA WILLlfuV6 2461 Echo Drive, N. E. Atlanta, Georgia
HOLCOMBE H. PERRY, JR. c/o Perry, Walters & Langstaff Attorneys at Law Albany, Georgia
COUNSEL
EUGENE COOK The Attorney General S tate of Georgia 132 Judicial Building 40 Capitol Square Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Assisted by:
PAUL RODGERS Assistant Attorney General 132 Judicial Building 40 Capitol Square Atlanta, Georgia 30334

TRANSCRIPT OF THE SEMINAR CONCERNING THE

GEORGIA ELECTION CODE, APPROVED JUNE 24,

1964, CONDUCTED BY THE STATE ELECTION BClAlm

ON AUGUST 6 AND 7, 1964, IN THE CHAMBER OF

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE STATE

CAPITOL IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

""'--_

The Seminar concerning the Georgia Election Dode was held in the Chamber of the House of Representati~~s in the State Capitol beginning at ten o'clock on th~ morning of August 6, 1964. A transcript of these proceedings now follows.

MR. FORTSON:

I wish to open this meeting by welcom-

ing you to this the first s~~minar on the

Georgia Election Code conducted by the

State Election Board. I am very gratified

at the large audience present -- there

appears to be well over two hundred people

here. As you may know, we sent invitations

to attend this seminar, to all ordinaries,

registrars, county attorneys and members of

the county executive committees of both

parties.

I would like to introduce to you at

this time the House appointed member of the

Election Board set up at the General Assembly

by the new Election Code, Mrs. Melba Williams

2. MR. FORTSON: of Decatur and DeKalb County. The (con t I d)
Senate appointed member is Holcombe H. Perry, Jr., Albany, Georgia. He is not here today. He told me that he had an engagement out of the city and state, and regrets not being able to be here today. However, he is in perfect accord with our attempt to hold this Seminar and discuss this new law. One of the most important members of the group who will attempt to aIlswer your questions is the Honorable Paul Rodgers, Assistant Attorney General,
'. ~
assigned to the Election Board -- he is the principal architect of this law. I would like to tell all of you now that he did night and day, week end and week out work on this Code and the General Assembly depended upon his work and his advice just about more than any other man. Of course, Mr. Freeman Leverett and Mr. Bob Walling were assistants to the Committee in the fonnation of this law. He is the man who will be answering your calls for help. Paul, will you st:and up?
To give the final analys is of what is legal and what is not, is the man I

3.

MR. FORTSON: would like to introduce to you now, the (cont'd)
Honorable Eugene Cook. He will speak to

you and welcome you. He will propose to

you that he is ready to offer any help at

any time. Eugene Cook.

MR. COOK:

Thank you, Ben, and friends. I do

want to take this occasion to commend

our Secretary of State who lS Chairman of

our working Committee, for calling this

Seminar and thank you for your presence

for a very good reason. During the twenty-

three years I have been Attorney General

of Georgia, this is the first time I have

seen a gathering of this kind for the

purpose of disseminating information con-

cerning the most important piece of legis-

lation passed by the administrations of the

six governors with whom I have served during

my tenure as Attorney General. It is a

commendable thing to see you here. You are

to be congratulated. Ben Fortson has done

a memorable job as Chairman of this Committee.

I am grateful to see this large group this

morning in our third chapter in this procedure

for the adoption of what we hope to be one of

the most important pieces of legislation passed

by the General Assembly of Georgia during the

MR. COOK: Ccont'd)

4.
l~st century. This is a piece of legislation drawn most directly for the people. I w~t to take this occasion also to tell you how much I appreciate the splendid work Paul Rodgers did, not only with the Co~ittee, but also with the Legislature. Paul may expect a raise in salary, but Paul's work with the Committee did not hold out any promise of increase in salary. When you inquire of the Attorney General for an interpretation concern ing the new Code, most likely I will refer the inquiry to Paul Rodgers. After he gives his view, we will get together and come up with what the law means. I want to say in all candidness that the passage of the Election Code by the Legislature, in my opinion, justifies the convening of the Legislature without reference to the work done on the proposed new Constitution.
I think your attendance here this morning demonstrates your interest in a modern Election Code. One of the most important features of the new Code is the provision to remove fraud and corruption from elections and to simplify the general primaries and general elections.

MR. aOOK: (cont'd)

5.
We know at the outset that you are going to be making inquiries about the Election Gode. Our interpretations of tha ~an ing of these Code Sections, you underst~nd, will not under the law be binding on anybody. They are what we call unofficial opinions. A long time ago, some Attorney General, I don't know who, conceived of the idea and the practice of rEClea,ing what is .aned an unofficial opinion. One of the reasons for this was for public rel.ations. We h<:\ve singled ou t our unofficial opinions to inelude officials of the county, and that includes you -- those of you who will be responsible for the administration of the1;>e duties under the new Election Code. You are to feel free at any time or on any occasion to ask us about any inte~preta~ tion you feel you need help on. I prefer and would like to recommend to you that you put your requests in writing. After all is said and done, l haven't seen a law passed that covers as much territory as the new Election Code. Heretofore, we had to look up and run down throughout the entire law books to find answers to questions. No~ we can look up a passage much easier. This simplifies our work and i'tl tum simplifies

MR. COOK: (cont'd)

6. yours. Feel free to call on us for any help we can give you. Your inquiries are most likely to affect every county or every person. You may think it is just your problem but it may turn out to be the problem that is concerning many others. If you will put it in writing, we will do the best we can for you. Thank you, Ben.

At this point, discuss ion of the lunch hour was held. It was decided that the group would adjourn for lunch at L2:00noon and reconvene at 1:30 p.m.

MR. FORTS ON:

We have got to determine how we will

proceed. Mr. Rodgers and I, in talking

about the procedure on the Election Code,

felt that we first should read off the

sections which relate to and which are

the definitions of the various terms

such as "why a superintendent", ""Tho are

the superintendents", and on down the

list and take the law from there on in

giving an eA~~qnation and in offering

to answer ques~i~ns about each section

as we go along." \f~t;ho~t further ado, we will beg~n.,)a1)d Iwill.,r,ead off the first

two secttqns in.,:t;J;lE},goQ.e.

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7.
MR. FORTSON: Hold up your hand and Mr. Couisons will
(cont! d) bring you a copy. The Attorney General has already told you something about the Code, its meaning, what it was designed to do. It was designed to gather into one law everything relating to the election law, except relating to municipal primaries and elections. They are specifically excluded from this Code. The Committee that framed this Code has been charged with the responsibility of framing a public municipal code. In the Index you will note that Chapter 34-1 deals with the preliminary provis ions; Chapter 34-2, the State Election Board; Chapter 34-3, the Secretary of State and the duties relating to that office; Chapter 34-4, the ordinaries of the State; 34-5, poll officers; 34-6, registration of electors; 34-7, election districts and the polling places in the districts; 34-8, dates of primaries and elections; 34-9, an entirely new section, deals with political parties and bOdies, important to the ordinaries, to the parties and to the Secretary of State; Chapter 34-10, nomination of candidates; 34-11, the ballots themselves;

8. MR. FORTSON: 34-12, voting machines and vote recorders; (cont'd)
34-13, preparation for and conduct of primaries and elect ions; 34-14, abs entee voting; 34-15, returns of primaries and elections; 34-16, electoral college; 34-17, contested primaries and elections; Chapter 34-18, congressional districts; 34-19, the penalties; and 34-20, the repeals. This is the general index. We are working on an index having much greater particularity. You will be able to look in the index to find anything you need. We haven't finished this and it will probably take some time yet.
Before I go any further, I would like to say that out in the front there are two or three voting machines. Under this new law, the Secretary of State has to approve the voting machines. These have been approved and will be certified today. Some of you may want to go and take a look at them and talk with the representatives about them and find out how they work. Perhaps your county is interested in putting in this machine. Look at two or three which have been accepted for the State of Georgia up to the p res ent moment.

8a.

MR. FORTSON:

Now we will ask Mr. Rodgers to

(cont'd)

get close to the microphone and give

you an explanation of various questions

you will have. He will give you the

answers, not only the answers, but the

legal answers. We will begin with the

Election Code, Section 34-101 on page 3.

The Georgia Election Code in the

title states what the application of

the Code is for. "This Code shall apply

to any general or special election in

this State to fill any federal, state

or county office, and to any general

or special primary to nominate candi-

dates for any such office, and to any

federal, state or county election or

primary for any other purpose whatso-

ever; provided however it shall not

apply to any municipal primary or elec-

tion". I think that is important.

However, it shall not apply to any

municipal primary or municipal elec-

tion. These definitions change our

original thinking in Georgia about

what we call election officers and

various people who have charge of the

polls. The following definitions are

9.

MR. FORTSON: stated in Section 34-103. (Mr. Fortson (con t f d)
then read Section 34-103.)

We will ask Paul to take over and

take each section and explain and we

will have questions. Paul, you can

make statements or explanations, how-

ever you wish.

MR. RODGERS:

I would like to begin by stating

that the work on this Code has been

going on for quite some time. I

personally know that more time has

been spent on this legislation than

the vast majority of legislation adopted

by the General Assembly. Work on the

Code began under the Vandiver administra-

tion. The first Election Laws Study

Committee was organized in 1961. Because

of the tremendous task of trying to bring

out a comprehensive Code, the work was

not completed during the life of this

Committee. A new Committee was set up

by Governor Sanders in 1963. Based

upon the work done under the earlier

Committee, the first draft was submitted,

public hearings were held across the

State, and the draft was gone over by

a special committee of both Houses of

10.

MR. RODGERS: the General Assembly. Thus we have a (cont'd)
comprehensive Code, which we have never

had before in the history of Georgia.

The new Code is based in large part

on the Pennsylvania Election Code. The

Pennsylvania Code was selected because

that State has a strong two-party system

which is conducive to the development

of fair election laws. Furthermore,

Pennsylvania has one of the finest elec-

tion codes in the Nation. There were

many omissions in the old election laws

in areas which should have been prescribed

by statute. The old law was a hodgepodge

that had haphazardly accumulated for over

a century. The new Code greatly simplifies

our election laws, and repeals a vast

number of old laws.

We will review the high points of

the Code. If a question comes to your

mind, ask it. The questions will help

everyone I sunders tanding.

In the definitions as the Secretary

34-103(e)

34-103(x)

of State has pointed out, we made a techni-

cal distinction between the words "election"

and "primary" and define an "election" as

not including a "primary". This distinction

ll. MR. RODGERS: is vital to a clear understanding of (cont'd)
the Code. Also, we divide political organizations into political parties and bodies. We say that only a party can conduct a primary. A party is defined as a political organization which at the preceding gubernatorial election nominated a candidate for Governor and whose candidate for Governor polled at least twenty per cent of the total vote cast in the S tate for Governor, or which at the last presidential election nominated a candidate for the office of President and whose candidates for presidential electors at such election polled at least twenty per cent of the total vote cast in the Nation for that office. Only a strong political organization can do this. Weak political organizations will not be permitted to attempt the great effort required for conducting the kind of primaries intended by the General Assembly.
Superintendent means the ordinary in elections and the county executive committee in primaries. There was some

34-103(8) 34-103(u) 34-1005
34-103( ac)

12. MR. RODGERS: talk about making the Chairman of the (cont'd)
county executive committee the superintendent in the case of primaries but' it was thought that that was giving too much power to one man. You will also notice that the county executive committee may appoint an agent to act as superintendent. The reason for permitting the appointment of this agent is because it is difficult for a committee composed of several members to act on the continuing basis required of a superintendent. You will also notice that throughout the Code the pronouns he or his are used in referring to the superintendent. This is purely grammatical and does not alter the meaning of the word superintendent in instances where it applies to a committee. Also, you will notice here and there that the Code requires that various papers be filed in the office of the superintendent. This merely means that the committee selects some place of business or someone1s residence as an office. It just means a place where the records of the committee are maintained. Of course if the committee has a special

34 -103 (ac)
34-501 34-1108 34-1501 34-1502 34-1503 34-1504(a)

13.

MR. RODGERS: office, well and good, but this is not (cont'd)
required.

The duties of the State Election

Board and the Secretary of State do not

concern us at this time so I will move

on to the consideration of Chapter 34-4.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If the State Election Board is called on to issue regulations, will that Board

issue regulations prior to preparations

for the forthcoming primary, and if so,

should the local party committees proceed

without anticipating such regulations?

MR. RODGERS:

The rule-making power of the Board

34-202(b:

is set forth in Section 34-202(b). Please

note that its rule-making power only

pertains to elections. An election

doesn't include a primary. The Board

has no rule-making power over the forth-

coming primary. No rule or regulation

governing elections can become effective

until sixty days after the same has been

adopted and promulgated. If enough people

desired, the Board could start issuing

regulations, but the Board has issued no

regulations thus far.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

This provision requiring the Democratic county Executive Committee to file with the

14.

QUESTION: (contfd)

ordinary some kind of statement regarding the rules and regulations/of the CDmmittee~

We don t t have any such rules and regulations .

Could we go along with the rules of the

S tate Committee?

MR. RODGERS:

You should have the rules and re g1.,11 a- 34-902(c)

tions of the Committee reduced to writing,

and filed with the ordinary. 'Changes

could be made if necessary, later . The.

reason for requiring this reduction to

writing and the filing with the ordinary

is so that members of thegenera;L public

may know with certainty wh:a.tthe rules

and regulations of the committee are.

The rules and regulatioXlsshould not be

carried around in someone fs mind. They

should be reduced to writing and filed.

Amendments could be filed also.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

C.anwe file the State Executive Committee rules and use those as ours?

MR. RODGERS:

If your county committee has no

rules, I suggest that. you, adopt the

State Committee rules and regulatio~s

as your own and file them with the

ordinary.

MR. COOK:

I think the. reason for that is

this. If the rules are not in writing,

15.

MR. COOK: (contfd)

they would be void if someone became involved in a law suit. It would be

important to have the rules of the party

reduced to writing and filed.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could the county executive committee in the case of primaries select anyone

34-103(ac)

they want to to act as the agent of the

committee for the purpose of performing

the duties of superintendent?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can the chairman or the secretary

34-902(c)

of the Democratic County Executive Committee

file the State Executive Committee rules

and regulations with the ordinary and

call those the rules and regulations of

the County Executive Committee?

MR. RODGERS:

I suggest that there should be a

meeting of the County Committee itself

with a quorum present and that it should

vote on this before the rules are filed

with the ordinary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Would the entry fees and the party's rules and regulations have to be filed?

34-902(c)

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, the qualification fees should

be filed also because I should think they

are a part of the rules and regulations.

16.

MR. RODGERS:

Going back to Chapter 34-4 concern-

ing the powers and duties of ordinaries, the
Section 34-401 (g) defines/ordinary's

rule making power over elections and

states that it must be consistent with

the State Election Board's rules.

Section 34-401(h) requires that the

ordinary instruct all poll officers

and others in their duties, calling

them together in meeting whenever

deemed advis able. Section 34-40lC j)

says that he must publicly announce

by posting in his office the results

of all elections held in his county.

Section 34-401(k) states that he should

prepare annually a budget estimate of

his expenses under the Code. This

merely codifies the budgetary procedure

already in effect in many counties.

Section 34-403 declares that all

election documents in the office of the

ordinary, including nomination petitions

and other records, are subject to public

inspection.

Section 34-501 prescribes that

you must have three managers in each

election district.

34-40l(g) 34-401(h) 34-401(j) 34-401(k) 34-403 34-501

17.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do the managers have to reside within the district?

MR. RODGERS:

No.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

I talk~d with several. members of the General A.s.sembly. They felt that

the legis latureinten<;led that a manager

reside within the eJ,ec.ti.ondistrict,

MR. RODGERS:

No. This approach was rejected be~

cause many election officials complained

that in many distriqts it .was difficult

to get three good people to serv as

managers. In such ins tances ,tl:ley

wanted the freedom to bring in managers

from other parts of the county.:..

The superintendent is the Qne who

hires the poll officers. Section 34-503

provides that the poll officers shal.l be

judicious, intelligent andupri,ght

electors (grand jury standards) o;e the

county in which they are appointed, and

shall be able to read, w.rite and speak

the English language.. If thesuperinten-

dent q.e~i]7ed, he COll1d go to the northern

part of the county and hire someone and

bring him to thE? sOl1thern P5l-Tt of the

county to act as apollofficer. He can

of course, impose such limitations upon

34::-503 34-503

18.

MR. RODGERS: himself as he deems proper. (cont'd)

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

It is not ma,ndatory that he appoint managers residing within theclist;rict?

34-503

Can the ordinary select his, own managers?

Suppose he can't find a R~pl.lbl.ican in

that district?

MR. RODGERS:

You don I.t have to,nave a Republican.

The ordhH~ry can pick hiscmaTlage;rs as he

sees fit. It is up to. the ordinary.

He can choQse all Democ.rats or all

Republicans OJ:" a combination .of bO,th,

just. how.e yer he wi$ hesto .. d.o .

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can justices of the p~ace be. used as manag.ers in the SepteIIlber 9th Primary?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, if they '-J.;re not seeking party

34-503

nomination in suchPrirnary. The old Law
"
provided for the use oL,JP 's. It came to

our attention tbat, in some. counties the

JP's and ordinar,iesfought each other,

and the ordinaries,. $,Ometime!3 came off

second best. Sinc~"J.theordi1}ar has

the duty of conpuctingelection? wit.hin

the county., it was deci,ded to give,h;Lm ,a

free hand. in selectirtg his poll officers.

The ordinary can select whoeve,r he, wc;mts

to, consistent with thE? reql.lirements Of

Section 34-603. The. superintendent can continue

19.

MR. RODGERS: to use JF's in primaries where they do (cont'd)
not seek nomination and in elections

where they do not seek election. It

would be a good practice in many cases

to use them. However, you don't have

to use JF's unless you want to.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

My county has many populous districts. 34-502 Is it possible to appoint more than three

managers in such districts when additional

manpower is required?

MR. RODGERS:

You can only appoint three managers,

but you may appoint as many clerks as

34-501 34-502

you need. The additional clerks should

solve your manpower problems.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Section 34-1321(a) required that the chief manager callout the ballots

34-1321(a)

one by one. It is impossible unless we

can have more than one person calling out

the ballots in large districts.

MR. RODGERS:

In my opinion this requirement is

34-1308(c)

directory and not mandatory. Further-

more, please note the proviso of Section

34-1308(c) which states "that the chief

manager may make other arrangements for

the division of the duties imposed by

this Code, so long as each poll officer

is assigned some specific duty to perform."

Also, please note Section 34-1308(d)

34-1308(d)

20.

MR. RODGERS: which provides that "any poll officer
(cont'd) may be assigned by the chief manager to

assist another officer in the performance

of his duties, or to perform them for

him during his temporary absence or

disability." Consequently, if the

literal interpretation of Section 34-1321

Poses a real manpower problem or presents

an unreasonable burden, then I would make

a practical distribution of duties among

the managers and clerks.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can anyone do the calling out, other than the managers?

34-1321(a)

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. In these big election districts 34-1321 (a)

where you have a great number of ballots

to be counted, the ballots could be distri-

buted among the managers and clerks to

be simultaneously counted.

MR. COOK:

Section 34-1308 states that any poll

34-1308(d)

officer may be assigned by the chief

manager to assist another officer in

the performance of his duties, or to

perform them for him during his temporary

absence or disability. I believe that

Subsection was intended to take care of

just such a situation.

21.

MR. RODGERS:

I don 't think that any court ,vould'

undertake,to upset an eleotion because a

clerk called outvotes rather thana

manager.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

In our d-istricts,the Junior Chamber of Corrunerce has been qu,ite cons iderate

34-502

and has counted the votes in the pas t.

Could I appoint certain members of

this.organization to be clerks and assist

during the election?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, if they are otherwise qualified. 34-503

You should go through the meth,odof

appointing them as clerks as prescribed

by the Cod,e and theY$hould be sworn in.

The last twocsentences of Section

34-503

34.,.~03 are important where it says iI].

effect that no poll officer shall be

eligible to any nomination or public

office to be voted for at a primary or

election at which he shall serve. In

other words, anybody ru,nnL~g for primarY

nomination cannot serve as a poll officer

in the primary. However, it is clear that

a person'may serve as a poll officer in a

primary in which he seeks election.to

party office unless prohibited by the rules

of the party conducting the primary.

22.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-508 states that the

(cont'd)

compensation of managers and clerks

34-508

shall be fixed and paid by the superin-
f
tendent. If anyone wants to work for

free, that is okay too. It is legal for

poll officers to work free of charge.

Chapter 34-6, concerning registra-

tion of electors, is based largely on

the 1958 Voters Registration Act.

Section 34-602(a)(b)(c)(d)(e), prescribes

34-602

the qualifications for electors. The

sentence immediately following the state-

ment of these qualifications in effect

says that you can't register if you will

not obtain those qualifications within

six months. If you will be 18 within six

months, or if you will be a resident of

the State one year and of the county six

months, within six months, you can register.

The old law provided for the registration

of anyone with no such cut-off deadline.

As an example, a seventeen-year-old, or

younger person, could say "register me"

and he could be registered, although he

could not vote until he became eighteen.

The new Code prescribes a clear deadline

23.

MR. RODGERS: here, fixed at six months prior to the (cont'd)
elector's eighteenth birthday. No one

under seventeen and a half can register

to vote.

Section 34-603 presents no significant 34-603

change.

Section 34-604 concerns deputy registrars.

As you know, the tax collector or tax

34-604

commissioner is made an ex officio deputy

registrar. In some larger counties,

where the registrars work full-time,

they don't need the help of the tax collector

or tax commissioner. Consequently, the

third sentence of Section 34-604 states

that the board of registrars may issue a

written order releasing the tax commissioner

or tax collector from the obligations imposed

by this Chapter. In your smaller counties

you have to have someone to handle the

receipt of applications for registration

on a day to day basis. This is the reason

for the tax collector or tax commissioner

being made an ex officio deputy.

Section 34-605 imposes rather stringent 34-605

requirements governing registrars and deputy

registrars. It states that no person, while

serving as a registrar or deputy registrar or

24. MR. RODGERS: within six months after so serving, shall (cont1d)
be eligible to any nomination or office to be voted for at a primary or election . It states an exception as to candidates running for tax commis s ioner or tax collector. This was put in in the Senate. The last sentence of Section 34-605 states that no person shall be eligible to serve as chief registrar unless such person owns an interest in real property located within the county or unless such person is the spouse of such a property owner.
Section 34-610 -deals with the establish- 34-610 ment of additional voter registration places. In counties of less than 100,000 population, the establishment of these places is entirely permissive. The chief registrar can establish as many or as few as he wants to, or he may establish none. However, in counties of over 100,000, it is mandatory that additional voter registration places be established at least six months prior to the voter registration deadline for each November General Election. One of best systems I know of is in Fulton County where they have a permanent additional voter registration place in each municipal

25.

MR. RODGERS: city hall. Under this system, you register (cont1d)
in one operation for all municipal, county,

State and Federal primaries and elections.

The establishment of additional voter

registration places are great aids in

building up the number of registered voters.

Section 34-611 concerns the fifty-

34-611

day voter registration deadline for the

November election. This is set for

September 14, 1964, for the November 3

General Election.

Section 34-617 defines the two tests

34-617

for voter qualification in Georgia. The

applicant in every case determines which

test he will take and, of course, no

person should be given both tests unless

he flunks one and then requests that he

be given the other. One test is the

literacy test which is defined in

Section 34-617(a). The other test is

designed to determine an applicant1s

good character and his understanding of

the duties and obligations of citizenship

under a republican form of government.

This test is referred to in Section 34-617(b)

and is stated in Section 34-618. Georgia is 34-618

somewhat unique in having both of these tests.

26. MR. RODGERS: The reason for these two tests is because (contTd)
the State Constitution prescribes two classes for voter registration. One class concerns literacy which is how practically all Georgians register to vote. The other class is predicated upon a person understanding his duties and obligations as a citizen under a republican form of government. In order to prevent a person from merely declaring that he possesses this understanding and thereby demanding registration, the legislature long ago devised a rather difficult examination to plug this loophole. The Georgia Election Code simplified this examination somewhat by eliminating some of the hard questions and reducing the number of questions to twenty. Nevertheless, these questions continue to be criticized because many people feel that they are too difficult. Also, these questions frequently give a false impression because some people believe that everyone who registers in Georgia must be able to answer these questions. Of course, as we know, this is entirely incorrect. Georgia, in one sense, is more liberal than most

27.

MR. RODGERS: states in determining voter qualifications Ccont'd)
because it has two classes -- literacy and

citizenship -- whereas, most states only

have one which is generally literacy.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 exerts some effect on voter registration in Georgia. I have made a study of the

1964 Civil
Rights Act

Civil Rights Act and the various committee

reports concerning it. Title I deals

with voter registration. I have conferred

with an attorney in the Justice Department,

and our views coincide in the interpreta-

tion of Title I.

Title I states that no person acting

under the color of law shall employ any

literacy test as a qualification for voting

in any Federal election unless such test

is conducted wholly in writing. Section

34-617Ca) of the Election Code states

34-617Ca)

that an applicant, in taking the literacy

test, must write and read aloud a para-

graph of the Federal or State Constitution

unless he is physically disabled in which

case he merely has to give a reasonable

interpretation thereof. However, there is

a proviso in the Civil Rights Act to the

"wholly in writing" provision which states

that "Provided, however, That the Attorney General

28.

MR. RODGERS: may enter into agreements with appropriate (contfd)
State or local authorities that prepara-

tion, conduct, and maintenance of such

tests in accordance with the provisions

of applicable State or local law, includ-

ing such special provisions as are necessary

in the preparation, conduct, and maintenance

of such tests for persons who are blind or

otherwise physically handicapped, meet the purposes of this subparagraph and constitute compliance therewith." There-

1964 civil Rights Act

fore, State or local election officials

may preserve the present method of conduct-

ing literacy tests in Georgia, which is

both written and verbal by entering into

appropriate agreements with the Attorney

General of the United States. To my

knowledge no such agreements have thus

far been entered into in Georgia.

The next important aspect of Title I

of the Civil Rights Act warranting our

attention concerns the provision stating

that "If in any such proceeding literacy

is a relevant fact and shall be a rebutable

presumption that any person who has not

been adjudged an incompetent and who has

completed the sixth grade in a pub lic

school, or a private school accredited by,

29. MR. RODGERS: any State or territory, the District ~f (contfd)
Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico where instruction is carried on predominantly in the English language, possesses sufficient literacy, comprehension, and intelligence to vote in any Federal election." This provision does not supersede the Georgia literacy test. In other words, an applicant for registration cannot produce to the board of registrars such a certificate of a sixth grade education ~nd demand registration without having to take the Georgia literacy test. This provision of the Civil Rights Act only applies in the event the registrars are sued in court because of rejecting an applicant for registration who attempted to register on the basis of his literacy. The procedure would be something like this. The applicant would file suit in court alleging that he was literate and that the board of registrars had illegally denied his application. The applicant would then introduce in evidence this certificate of his sixth grade education

1964 Civil Rights Act

30. MR. RODGERS: and the burden would immedia~ely shift (contTd)
to the board of registrars to prove that the applicant was illiterate. NOIwally, the applicant would have the burden of proving that he was literate without the aid of the presumption created by the certificate. Actually, the injection of this sixth grade certificate into the law has very little substantial affect because in the vast majority of cases an applicant who is literate would have no difficulty proving his literacy in court. Section 34-618 states the twenty-question examination for those applicants who claim the right to register on the basis of good character and understanding of the duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form of government. You will notice that thirteen of these questions require multiple answers. Also, please note that the applicant must correctly answer fifteen of the twenty questions. Therefore, it seems clear that an applicant must correctly answer in their entirety the questions requiring multiple answers. In other words, an

1964 Civil Rights Act
34-618

31. MR. RODGERS: applicant must answer every part of the (cont'd)
question correctly or it is wrong. For example, question 11 states lfhow many Congressional Districts in Georgia are there and in which one do you live?lf Both parts of this question must be correctly answered for the question itself to be deemed properly answered. Of course, as you know very few people ever apply to take this test because the vast majority of the people qualify to vote by taking the literacy test.
Section 34-619 defines those who are eligible to register absentee. As you know, the general rule in Georgia is that everyone must register in person before a registrar or deputy registrar. However, Georgia law defines several classes of persons who may register by mail. These classes correspond to the recommendations of the Federal Voting Assistance Act. Under the old law the only Georgia citizens that could register absentee were members of the armed forces and their spouses and dependants. The new Code, consistent with the Federal Voting Assistance Act, expands this class to

34-618 34-619

32.

MR. RODGERS: include members of the merchant marine (cont'd)
of the United States, civilian employees

of the United States (which includes .as

examples Georgia citizens in the Peace

Corps and Georgia citizens employed by

the Federal Government in Washington,

D. C.), and members of a religious group

or welfare agency assisting members of

the armed forces of the United States

who are officially attached to and serv-

ing with such armed forces! This latter

category has reference to members of such

organizations as the Salvation Army and

the Red Cross. Also, the spouses and

dependants of these people are also

permitted to register absentee. Section

34-6l9(a) contains one important limita-

34-6l9(a)

tion and that is that a person applying

to register absentee must then be "temporari-

ly res iding outs ide of the State". Conse-

quently, any person who is a member of one

of these groups cannot register absentee if

he is residing temporarily within the State

of Georgia away from his permanent home in

Georgia.

Another significant change brought about 34-611 34-625
by the new Code is in the repeal of the old

33.

MR. RODGERS: law which penni tted members of the armed (cont'd)
forces to register to vote up until the

last minute prior to a primary or election.

The new Code places applicants for absentee

registration under the same deadline as

other applicants for registration because

of the fact that the new Code imposes so

many additional duties upon the registrars

al1d because of the much shorter voter

registration deadlines. Consequently,

it was deemed advisable to relieve the

registrars of the duty of having to

continuously revise the lists prepared

for primaries and elections by the addi-

tion of new registered voters.

Section 34-620 provides for the

34-620

biennial purge of electors for non-

voting. This Section follows the old

law generally and prescribes that in the

early part of every odd-numbered year

the registrars must purge their lists

of any registered elector who has not

voted in a general primary or general

election held within the preceding three

years. This periOd of three years of

course includes a minimum of two general

primaries and two general elections and,

.~.... 4, .....

MR. RODGERS: therefore, if a person has not voted (contfd)
in one of these, it indicates that he

has either moved or has become very in-

active for some other reason. Please

note that the purge depends upon voting

in general primaries and general elections

and not upon voting in special primaries

and elections. Therefore, if a person

voted in every special primary and elec-

tion but not in any general primary or

election, then he would be purged. How-

ever, it is obvious that such an unusual

situation would seldom, if ever, occur.

One significant change reflected in Section

34-620(b), in comparison with the old law,

is the fact that a person may have his

registration continued by "applying in

writing" to the board of registrars instead

of having to appear before them in person

as was the case under the old law. Section 34-621 makes a change in

34-621

frequency with which the voter disquali-

fication lists must be filed with the

board of registrars. As you know, the

clerk of the superior court is required

to file lists of those persons who have

been convicted of disfranchising crimes,

3,5. MR. RODGERS: and the ordinary is required to file a (cont'd)
similar list of those persons who appear to be disqualified from voting by reason of an adjudication of insanity, and a local registrar of vital statistics must also file a similar list of those persons who have died. Under the old law this list was required once every two years. However, as we know, the frequency of primaries and elections is much greater and, therefore, it was deemed advisable to require that these lists be filed on a monthly basis so that they could be maintained in current form. Please note that Section 34-621 requires that these lists be filed not later than ten days after the end of the month reported.
Section 34-622 tells how the electors 34-622 list should be prepared. The voters list should indicate the names of those persons who are eligible to receive assistance in voting.
Section 34-623 concerns the filing of 34-623 copies of the electors lists with the Clerk of Superior Court and the Secretary of State. The second sentence of this Section provides that '~hen requested, it

36.

MR. RODGERS: shall be the duty of the Secretary of
(contTd)
State or of the board of registrars, as

the case may be, to furnish a certifi~d

copy of such list, or any part thereof,

upon payment of a fee sufficient to cover

the cost of preparing such list, but in

no event shall the fee exceed an amount

equal to one cent for the name of each

elector appearing thereon." This provi-

sion was put in to make it easy to purchase

a list. Notice that the maximum price that

can be charged for a list is one cent per

name. Electors lists are important to

the ability to wage effective campaigns

and, therefore, the Study Committee

believed that they should be distributed

as cheaply as possible.

Section 34-624 contains the proviso

34-624

that a person cannot vote in both the

Republican and Democratic primaries

preliminary to the same election. Such

a prohibition or one similar is found in

the election laws of the vast majority

of the states, and is designed to keep

the members of one party from "raiding"

the primaries of another party. If raids

37.

MR. RODGERS: were permissible, then members of one (cont'd)
party could vote for the weakest candi-

date seeking nomination in the primary

of another party thereby hoping to make

him easy to beat in the general election.

Prior to the special senatorial primary

in 1962, only the Democratic Party had

conducted primaries and, consequently,

the old law permitted a registered voter

to vote in all primaries held. However,

due to the present development of a two-

party system in this State, it is now

necessary to prohibit "raids" and thus

we have the proviso stated in Section

34-624.

Section 34-625 sets forth the fifty-

34-625

day voter registration deadline for the

September 9, 1964, primary. As to the

November General Election, the fifty-day

deadline is set forth in 34-611. Some

people ask what is a "general election

other than a November election," as used

in Section 34-625. To my knowledge, we

do not have such an "animal" at the present

time in Georgia as to county, State and

Federal elections. However, if we ever do

have one then this Section will prescribe

the voter registration deadline for it.

38.

MR. RODGERS:

Continuing on, Sections 34-626 and

(contld)

34-627 are the same as the old law.

34-626 34-627

Section 34-627 gives the board of

registrars the right to challenge and to

re-examine the qualifications of electors

at any time. However, prior notice and

an opportunity for hearing must be given

to an elector prior to his name being

purged from the list.

Section 34-628 prescribes the proce-

34-628

dure for the challenge of electors quali-

fications by other electors. It is

important to note the last sentence of

Subsection (a) which provides in part

that a "challenge of a person l s qualifi-

cation to register or to vote shall be

decided in every case by the board of

registrars." The purpose of this provi-

sion is to abolish the right of an elector

to challenge at the polls the right of

another elector to vote and thereby

destroy the secrecy of his ballot by

it being marked challenged and being

deposited with the number strip attached.

The only exception to this provision is

in the case of challenges of absentee

ballots and the procedure therefor is

34-1407

prescribed in Section 34-1407. Consequently,

39. MR. RODGERS: except in the case of absentee ballots, (contfd)
all challenges will now be decided by the board of registrars.
rule Section 34-629(a) states the genera1/ 34-629(a) that a person may only vote in the district in which he is registered. However, Subsectiorn (b) and (c) of this Section state exceptions to this rule. Subsection (b) provides that in any election held in an 34-629(b) election district (not containing the county courthouse) in which no question is printed on the ballots or ballot labels to be used in such district and in which no candidate, whose name is printed on such ballots and ballot labels, is opposed by any candidate whose name is also printed thereon, then the polling place in such district shall not be established and the registrars shall furnish to the managers of the polling place in the election district containing the county courthouse the list of electors of such district in which no polling place is established and such electors shall be allowed to vote in the district containing the county courthouse. It is important to note that Subsection (b) only applies in the case of an

40.

MR. RODGERS: election and does not apply to a primary. (contfd)
All Subsection (b) means is that when an

election is held and no one running rherein

is opposed and no questions are to be voted

on, then only the polling place of the

election district containing the county

courthouse is opened and everyone must

vote there. Also, please note that the

requirement of Subsection (b) is not

altered by the waging of a vigorous

write-in campaign. The onLy kind of

opposition that can defeat the application

of (b) is opposition that is printed on

the ballot.

Subsection (c) states that an

34-629(c)

elector, who resides in an election

district which does not contain the

county courthouse and whose name appears

upon the electors list for such district,

shall be allowed to vote at the polling

place of the district containing the

county courthouse. This is for convenience.

If you reside in one district and work in

another, then you may vote in the district

containing the county courthouse. Sub-

section (c) puts a lot of work on the poll

officers and other primary and election

41. MR. RODGERS: officials. Of course this right here (cont1d)
applies to both primaries and elections. What (c) does is to continue the old privilege, but liberalizes it somewhat. Under (c), if you live out in the country and you work in the city, then to vote you don't have to go back out to the country to vote, you can vote right there in the city. (c) says that if an elector resides in a district other than the district containing the county courthouse, he can vote in the district containing the county courthouse if he wants to. It is a matter of convenience for him. Consequently, you have to let him vote. Of course, that makes it very hard because you are going to have to have paper ballots there even in the case of voting machines. That is, if there is any variation among the ballots used throughout the county due to ,JP, senatorial or corrroiss ioner races. In a county where there is no change, for instance, where the same people are elected county-wide, you won1t have any problem. But in these primaries and elections where you have militia districts in which justices of the peace are running and in these counties where you have plural senatorial districts,

42.

MR. RODGERS: you will of course have problems, because (cont'd)
some electors from outlying districts will

want to vote in the district containing

the county courthouse. The requirement

of Subsection (c) in effect means that

it would be desirable for you to have a

group of ballots from each of the election

districts available for use at the district

containing the county courthouse. But,

if you don't do that, then you must take

the paper ballots of such polling place

and mark out the names of those candi-

dates and the statement of those ques-

tions for whom the voter involved is not

qualified to vote for. Such elector is,

of course, not entitled to vote for the

candidates or for the questions which do

not concern the particular election district

in which he is registered.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Mr. Rodgers, I'm Katherine Mann from DeKalb County. Do you mean that we have

to have ballots available at the county

courthouse from each district for the candi-

dates to be voted on by districts? In

DeKalb County they have several senatorial

districts. People living in one senatorial

district come down and want to vote in the

district containing the county courthouse.

43.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

In that district they don't have ballots set up to handle the voting for that

particular district elsewhere in the

county.

MR. RODGERS:

The answer is yes, you have to provide

for them too. That was not a Study Committee

recommendation. Subsection (c) was put in

by amendment in the General Assembly, and

I think it was put in primarily to take

care of the people in your smaller counties,

who work in the city but who live in the

country and who do not want to take the to
time to go back out in the country/vote.

The arguments made against Subsection(c)

were, one, that we have a l2-hour polling

day and that a person could vote either

before he goes to work or after he gets

home from work in his district and, on

top of that, he can vote by absentee

ballot if he will be away from his district

during the l2-hour polling day. But those

arguments did not prevail and (c) was put

in anyway. It creates quite a burden on

DeKalb County. In the case of DeKalb

County you want to use vote recorders this

time, so you are going to have to have paper

ballots printed up. what I would suggest

44.

MR. RODGERS : in your case is that you print up paper (conttd)
ballots with the name of every candidate

that is running printed on the ballot"

and when somebody wants to vote you find

out the district he is from and then mark

off the names of those candidates that he

is not eligible to vote for outside of his

district and also mark out the questions

that he is not eligible to vote for out-

side of his district.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

We also have our school board elections and our Jpt s and constables too.

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, that is right, because the law

requires that all nominees of a party be

placed on the same ticket, you see, and

so that would mean that you are going to have

to have additional ballots printed, in your

case, official ballot cards, to take care

of these Jpt s Now, some people have

suggested the preparation of special JP

and constable ballots so as to leave their

names off the other ballots. That would be

risky because the intention was to require

that all nominees of a party be placed in

the same party ticket on the ballot. Of

course, where they are running independent

they should be placed in the independent

45.

MR. RODGERS: column. So, you see if you start setting (cont1d)
up your ballots and printing two separate

ballots, it is risky, and, of course, it

would cost more and be more trouble to

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

print. Furthermore, one ballot would be easier on the voter than two.
We have about 25 people in the county courthouse who want to vote in an outside precinct because of two men running on the School Board, and my understanding is

that there are no transfers after the 20th of July.

MR. RODGERS:

We'll get to that in a minute, but

anyway, on the change of addresses within

the county there is no deadline. The

34-63l(c)

Code does specify a deadline on the inter-county transfers, from one county

34-63l(b)

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

to another. If a person lives outside the court-
house district and works in the district of the courthouse and wants to register in the district of the courthouse, is he eligible to if he lives within another

34-1310(c)

district?

MR. RODGERS:

No, sir, your voter registration must

be in the district of your residence. The

answer is "no", although I imagine that this

46.

MR. RODGERS: is done frequently. You have to register (cont'd)
to vote in the county of your residence

and you should register to vote in the

district in which you reside (that is

generally where you have your home,

your legal residence). You can't register

to vote in a district where you do not

live.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If a person comes in from an outlying district to vote at the county courthouse,

who is responsible for scratching out the

names of the candidates for whom he is not

qualified to vote for?

MR. RODGERS:

That is up to the poll officers.

The poll officer has to know which candi-

dates appear on the ballots used in the

elector's district. When the poll officer

picks up the ballot, he says "You can't

vote for this candidate because he is

not running out in your district." The

poll officer would then strike out that

candidate's name. Now the elector can

vote for any candidate of his choice by

making a write-in vote if such candidate's

name does not appear on the ballot handed

to him in the district containing the

county courthouse. Another thing you

might have to consider is the questions.

34-629(c) 34-629(c)

47.
MR. RODGERS: If a person comes in and is not eligible (cont'd)
to vote for the question out in the out-
lying district, that question should be
stricken off the ballot, and, of course,
you can't cast a write-in vote for a
question.

At this time the meeting was adjourned for lunch, to be reconvened at 1:30 p.m.
Upon reconvening at 1:30 p.m., Mr. Fortson made the following announcement:

MR. FORTS ON:

I think this is significant to you

in regard to the JP's and constables. I

have just talked to the Governor and asked

him if the State Executive Committee has

directed all of the county committees to

reopen their candidate qualification dead-

line. He said that they have not, but

they are either going to do it tonight or

tomorrow. Here is the question that is

interesting to all of us. Can you open

it up? What is the latest date it can

be opened? It is my understanding from

Mr. Eugene Cook, Attorney General, that

under the particular circumstances of

this year, that you can open it up and

it can remain open until the day prior to

the primary, only in this instance and in

34-1006

48.

MR. FORTSON: this year. That will pass out in 1965. (cont'd)

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is it true that JP's and constables have to run in the primary?

MR. FORTSON:

The new Election Code requires that

34-1001(c)

all JP's and constables run either in the

primary or to get a five per cent peti-

tion to run in the general election, and

that would mean on the general election

ballot and not on some special ballot.

That is why this year, since the Democratic

Party closed on May 2, you are going to have

to open up your candidate qualification

deadline to allow those who want to go

on as nominees of the party in order to

get on the general election ballot in

the Democratic column or the Republican

column.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

In Ware County when we opened up, we had them to qualify at that time.

34-1006

Do we have to reopen it again?

MR. FORTS ON :

I think that is up to you all, if

they have already qualified, it wouldn't

be necessary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Would you open it for JP' s or would

34-1006

it be a general opening for all candidates?

MR. FORTSON:

It is my understanding that you would

only open it up for JP's and constables. I

49.

MR. FORTSON: would think that the party officials of (cont'd)
the county would limit it and state that
they were opening up solely for those two

positions on account of the situation.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do independent candidates for the office of justice of the peace have to

file a nomination petition and pay a

qualification fee to have their names

placed on the general election ballots?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. Traditionally, it seems in many

counties, the JP's and constables have

run as independents and they can still

continue to run as independents if they

want to, but to run as independents they will have to get up a five per cent petition, and also pay a qualification fee

to the ordinary. In order to avoid the

five per cent petition requirement, they

can run in the party primary, and become

a nominee of the party, of course they

have to pay a qualification fee to the

party, but they can avoid this qualifica-

tion fee to the ordinary and this five

per cent petition. So this came to the attention of the respective parties just

recently, and of course the Democratic

qualification deadline was closed on

34-100lC c) 34-1004
34-100lCc) 34-1004

50. MR. RODGERS: May 2 of this year, even before the Code (cont'd)
was passed. Because of that, we inserted some saving language which you will find as the last sentence of Section 34-1006. If you will note in the second sentence of 34-1006, it fixes the candidate qualification deadline for the general primary at forty-five days prior to the general primary, so, therefore, the general primary qualification deadline for 1966 is fixed by statute, but for this year, we left it open and up to the party. The last sentence of Section 34-1006 states that "The preceding sentence shall not apply to the qualification of candidates seeking party nomination in any general primary to be held on September 9, 1964, or in any primary held prior to the said date, and upon the holding of the last of such general primaries this sentence shall be automatically repealed." So, therefore, this closing of the candidate qualification deadline is up to the parties. And, conceivably, a party could keep the deadline open until the day before the primary, however, the difficulty

34-1006 34-1006

51.

MR. RODGERS: of that is you won't give the absentee (cont'd)
voter a chance. So, what needs to be

done is

what would be best

is for

the county committees to open up the

qualification deadline for JP's and

constables over the State. If you have

already done that in your county, then

the reopening would not be necessary,

and, if you have not, then I would suggest

that it be reopened only for these particular

offices. Of course, if you reopened the

whole thing again that would mean that a

lot of people who have already qualified

and gotten by without opposition, or with

weak opposition, in the primary would again

be placed in jeopardy. They don't want

to take a chance, and in a way it is un-

fair to them. But I would suggest that

in counties where the JP's and constables

have not qualified to run that it be re-

opened for that purpose, and of course,

if they don't want to run, that is all

right too, because that just means that

they will have to get up that petition

to qualify with the ordinary as an

independent, or else wage a write-in

campaign .

52.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Does a candidate for the office of justice of the peace have to have a nomina-

tion petition if no party is going to con-

duct a primary for that office, although

a county primary will be conducted for

other offices.

MR. RODGERS:

The Section you have reference to

is Section 34-l00l(c). There is stated

the five categories or instances where

people do not have to have a nomination

petition. This fifth one was put in the

law to take care of the counties who

don't hold any county primaries for the

office of JP, county office or for member-

ship in the House of Representatives.

It says "seeking, in a general election,

a county or militia district office or

membership in the House of Representa-

tives of the General Assembly in a

county where no political party has or

will hold a primary for the nomination

of any candidate for any such office to

be filled in such general election."

So you notice it says that where no

political party has or will hold a

primary for the nomination of any

candidate for any such office, then no

34-l00l(c)

53.

MR. RODGERS: candidate for any such office will have to (cont'd)
have a nomination petition. So therefore,

if you live in a county where one party

is going to hold a primary to nominate

a member for a House seat or for any

county office or JP, then that knocks

out the application of the fifth exemp-

tion. Now, if you live in a county

such as some of those in North Georgia,

where you don! t have a party primary fo r

any of these three classes of offices,

then you don't have to get up a nomina-

tion petition. But there are not many

counties that fall in (v).

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is there any particular time that they would be required to give notice to the

county executive committee?

MR. RODGERS:

You would have to determine that

34-1006

in each situation. I think very clearly

that when it is opened up, the county

executive committee can take such steps

as are necessary to insure that the

public is notified. How long to keep

it open is up to your own judgment.

There was an instance recently, where

they opened up the qualifications and

they remained open for only a few hours,

that instance got into the newspapers.

54.

MR. RODGERS: You should certainly take precautions to (cont'd)
see that it is adequately published. You

should give reasonable notice, but you

should not keep the time for qualifications

open any longer than you have to, because

until the time has expired you cannot

print your ballots.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If I understand you correctly, there is no fee for the qual ifying of JP' sand

constables with the ordinary?

MR. RODGERS:

No, not if they run in primaries.

If they don't run in a primary and if they

are not nominated in a party convention,

they must pay a fee to the ordinary in

qualifying with him.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Does the five per cent have to be five per cent of the registered voters

in that militia dis trict?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, that is five per cent of the

registered voters in that district who

were eligible to vote in the 1962 general

election.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Who sets the fees of the JP' s and constables?

MR. RODGERS:

The county governing authority fixes

the fees and the ordinary collects them.

34-1006
34-1004 34-1010(b) 34-1004

55.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What is the meaning of Section 34-1001(c)(iii)?

MR. RODGERS:

For example, if the Democrats

ran a candidate for the office of justice

of the peace in the last general election

and that candidate got at least ten per

cent of the total votes cast for the

filling of that office, then the party

could s it back and nominate on the

strength of that ten per cent vote,

without having to conduct a primary.

I doubt that would apply to very many

JP's and constables because I understand

that in the past most of them ran as

independents.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Under the new law just like under the old law, you are required to print extra

ballots for each district which are called

"reserve ballots". Could you keep these

ballots stored at the election district

contain ing the county courthous e, and if

a person wanted to vote then you could

pull one of those reserve ballots and let

him vote on it?

MR. RODGERS:

Off hand, I don't see anything wrong

with this, but it would be best to keep

a few of the regular ballots from each

of the districts at the courthouse polling

34-100l(c) 34-1107

56.

MR. RODGERS: place. As a general rule the reserve Ccont'd)
ballots should be kept in the superinten-

dent's office until a need arises for'

their use.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is there anything in the law to keep a registrar from serving as an election

manager?

MR. RODGERS:

I would think so, because you have

an inherent conflict between the duties

34-503 34-1305

imposed by the two offices because the

board of registrars is required to be

in session on the day of the primary or

election to correct errors in the list.

You have the three registrars performing

that function, and if you wanted one of

these to also act as a manager of a poll ing

place, then of course, you would be imposing

too much on one man. It would be best to

avoid this practice.

MR. RODGERS:

Now, we will continue the rundown

on the law as a whole. If you will please

save your questions until later, it will

be most helpful. We have finished Section

34-629Cc) and answered the questions con-

cerning it. Continuing on, Section 34-631

34-631Ca)

states the procedure for transferring

registration on change of residence. Under

57.

MR. RODGERS: the old law the general procedure was that (cont'd)
when a person moved to another residence,

the board of registrars required a trans-

34-631(a)

fer certificate from the county of his old

residence. When the transfer certificate

was received, the applicant registered in

the county of his new residence. That of

course, usually resulted in two trips be-

cause on the first trip an applicant learned

that he had to have a transfer certificate

and then after the certificate arrived he

had to return a second time to execute the

necessary affidavit. Of course, ifhe had

known the old law, he would get that certif-

icate in advance from the county where he had

lived previously and then handle the transfer

on one trip. This is one of the many good

things that Melba Williams did in this Code.

In order to correct this, she arranged to

simplify it so that one trip would do.

Under the new procedure, a person appears

before the board of registrars and states the

county of his old residence and fills out the

form of affidavit set forth in Section 34-631Ca)

and then it becomes the duty of the board of

registrars to write the old county of residence

and get a certificate showing that the person

58.

MR. RODGERS: was registered and when that certificate (contTd)
comes back, the registration transfer is

consummated.

The deadline, as specified in Section

34-631(b) says "An elector whose registra-

34-631(b)

tion has been transferred shall be entitled

to vote in any primary or election that he

would have been entitled to vote in had he

regis tered to vo te on the day of the trans-

fer. " The purpos e of this provis ion is to

put inter-county transfers under the same

deadline as applications for voter registra-

tion, with the effect that if the transfer

certificate is returned from the county of

a person's old residence prior to such

deadline, then the person would not be

eligible to vote in the primary. In other

words, if the transfer certificate comes

back after the registration deadline for

the primary, then the person is ineligible

to vote in the primary.

Sectioffi 34-631(a) and (b) deal with

intercounty transfers and (c) deals with

34-63l(c)

changes of address within the county.

The Code did not specify any deadline

for these changes of address -- unless you

want to say that the deadline specified

59.

MR. RODGERS: in (b) should be applied. There is an (cont'd)
ambiguity as to whether the deadline pre-

scribed in (b) applies to changes of

address provided for in (c), and in the

interest of the voter (and of course we

always try to resolve ambiguities in favor

of the voter) we ruled that the deadline

in (b) was only intended to apply to inter-

counter transfers under (a) and was not

intended to apply to these changes of

address under (c) within a county.

In handling these changes of address after

the list fur a primary or election has been

prepared, I suggest that the board of regis-

trars mark off the name from the list of

the voter's old district and make a supple-

mental list to go out to the district of

the voter's new residence. You might,

administratively, cut this thing off

several days beforehand.

One thing that is very confusing in

the law is the determination of a person's

34-632

voting residence. Section 34-632 sets

forth various rules for determining

residence and these follow the case law

which has been developed over many years.

60.

MR. RODGERS: Now, in Georgia as in most states, voting (cont' d)
residence means domicile. See Section

34-632

34-103(aa). You can only have one domicile 34-103(aa)

at a time but you can have several residences

at one time. In some areas of the law,

there is a distinction made between domicile

and residence. For instance, rich people

may have residences across the world. These

are considered their residences, not their

domicile. The domicile is the place you

really call home. We define residence over

in Section 34-103(aa) as meaning domicile,

but a voter can only have one domicile and

wherever that is is where he is supposed to

vote. Under the Georgia Constitution a

person must reside in a county six months

before he is eligible to vote therein and,

consequently, when a person moves from

one county to another he is temporarily

disfranchised from voting for six months.

When you move from your old county to your

new county, and when that move is

consummated as reflected by your intention

and your act, your domicile is immediately

changed. So that would mean that in your

old county you are no longer domiciled because

you are now domiciled in the county of your

61.

MR. RODGERS: new residence. The practice has been that (cont'd)
if a person finds out that he cannot vote

in his new county, he goes back and votes

in his old county by absentee ballot or

otherwise. Technically, that is illegal.

Of course, it is done.

It is difficult to determine residence

in the case of military people sometimes. In

the vast majority of the cases, military

people stationed here on duty are not

domiciled of this State. Generally speaking,

when students go away to school they don't

change their domicile to the county of the

location of the school because they retain

34-632

the domicile of their parents. But, of

cours e, if a s tudent is married and over

twenty-one years of age and comes to

Georgia Tech and lives off campus and it

is his intention to stay in Atlanta after

graduation, then all this indicates that

he may have changed his domicile. The

determination of a person's legal residence

or domicile requires a close analysis of all

the facts in an effort to figure out where

his home really is. An applicant for regis-

tration will always tell you that his voting

residence is wherever he wants to register,

62.

MR. RODGERS: but you cannot go by that. A person's (cont'd)
domicile is based upon his intent with a

sufficient accompanying of overt facts to

show the genuineness of the intent. Of

course, people frequently call the Attorney

General's office and the Secretary of

State to find out whether a particular

person is a resident of a certain county

and it is very difficult for us to tell

without having all the relevant facts

before us. Therefore, the board of

registrars is generally the best one

to make the decision.

Continuing on, Section 34-633

34-633

states that all records of the boards

of registrars are subject to public

inspection.

Under Section 34-634, the board

34-634

of registrars is required to submit an

annual budget.

Chapter 34-7 provides for election

34-7

districts. The old law, except in the

case of a few population bills, said that

each militia district constituted a

precinct and that each ward of a municipality

constituted a precinct. Frequently, because

of the varying populations, it didn't work

63.

MR. RODGERS: out very well because militia districts (contTd)
were created for the benefit of a judicial

system, and municipal wards were created

for the purpose of dispersing political

power. What was needed was the development

of a system of election districts designed

solely for voter convenience and for the

simplification of the administration of

elections and primaries.

Section 34-701 preserves the status

34-701

quo by defining each precinct to be an

election district. Section 34-702 and

succeeding Sections prescribe the procedure

for altering district lines to suit voter

convenience. It is very important to

recognize that changes of election district

lines under Chapter 34-7 do not affect the

boundaries of militia districts and municipal

wards. Consequently, if you want to change

the boundaries of militia districts and wards,

you must follow other procedures and not those

prescribed in Chapter 34-7. Also, it is

important to note that Section 34-702 states

that district lines cannot be changed during

the period of sixty days prior to any general

primary or election. Otherwise, changes made

within such a period could mess up the work

of the board of registrars.

64.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-703(a) provides for the

(cont'd)

alteration of district lines upon the peti-

34-703(a)

tion of twenty electors, or of the c~unty

executive committee of a political party,

being filed with the ordinary of the

county. Section 34-703(b) provides that

34-703 (b)

the board of registrars may also petition

the ordinary.

Section 34-703(c) provides that upon

the presentation of any such petition by

the board of registrars or upon the filing

by the board of its report and recommenda-

34-703(c)

tions as to any petition presented under

the provisions of Subsection (a), the ordinary,

after notification, may make such order,

as in his discretion, will promote the

convenience of the electorate.

The only exception to this provision

for the presentation of these petitions

and reports to the ordinary is contained

in Section 34-703(d) which states that

34-703(d)

any county having a population of more

than 250,000, according to the United States

Decennial Census of 1960 or any such future

census, the powers and duties conferred

upon the ordinary by this Section and

Section 34-702 shall be exercised and

performed by the governing authority of

the county.

65.

MR. RODGERS:

Part B of Chapter 34-7 concerns the

(cont1d)

selection and equipping of polling places

34-705 34-706 34-708

by the ordinary. The selection of one

polling place in each district and the

equipping of that polling place in both

primarie s and elections is up to the

ordinary. The reason for placing this

responsibility on the ordinary was because

in the Special Senatorial Primary of 1962,

the Republicans in Clayton County opened

only one polling place and the Republicans

in DeKalb County opened only one polling

place. That was okay for the party but

it was felt that it was not in the public

interest because of the inconvenience to

the electorate, and that if a party was

going to put on a primary it should open

all the polling places. Consequently,

if you leave the opening of polling places

up to the parties, the Democrats may do

one thing and the Republicans may do

another. In order to exclude this area

from party hands, and of course to save

the parties money also, the General Assembly

placed on the ordinary the responsibility of

selecting and equipping the polling places.

In primaries every polling place has to be

manned by poll officers.

66.

MR. RODGERS: (cont fd)

Section 34-705(c) was inserted because 34-705(c)

some people in the General Assembly were very

much concerned about the Democrats and

Republicans getting too close together. I

don r t think there is any danger in that the

way things are drawn in the Code, because

when you talk about a joint primary, the

only thing that can be joint is in the use of voting mach ines, vote recorders and poll

34-1007(b) 34-1008

officers. Otherwise, the two primaries are

entirely separate in the contemplation of

the Code. The county executive committees

of the two parties may agree to use the

same poll officers if they can agree on

an apportionment of the salaries of such

poll officers. And the second thing

that is joint is the use of voting machines because they can use the same voting machines 34-1315(b)

by the use of a primary locking bar operated

by a poll officer. Those are the only things

that can be joint. When paper ballots are used, you have separate paper ballots. In

all cases returns are separate and every-

thing else is separate. It was the inten-

tion of the Study Committee fuat the polling

places of both parties would be adjacent to

each other. In other words, you could have

the same set of poll officers with the

Democratic ballot box right next to the

67.

MR. RODGERS: Republican ballot box at the same location. (cont'd)
It is inconvenient for the voters to

34-705(c)

have the Democratic polling place in one

part of the district and the Republican

polling place in another part. If the

polling places were widely separated

then, obviously, people would be confused, and

many of those wanting to vote in the Democratic

primary would be going to the Republican poll-

ing place and vice versa. So they should be

close together for voter convenience. To

satisfy some interests in the General Assembly,

it added Section 34-705(c). It says "Except

as otherwise provided in this Code, the

ordinary in selecting and fixing the poll-

ing places within each election district

shall fix separate polling places for each

party conducting a primary in accordance

with Code Section 34-801." Then the Legisla-

ture put in that last sentence which says

that Subsection (c) shall not become effective

until 1965. I suggest that Subsection

(c) doesn't really mean anything because you can

have separate polling places side by side.

In other words, an ordinary under Subsection

(c) can place the polling places side by side

or can place them a great distance apart.

68.

MR. RODGERS: Actually, Subsection (c) does not restrict (cont'd)
the discretion of the ordinary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

In the counties where Republicans plan to run against Democratic nominees

who have already been nominated, does the

ordinary have to fix them a polling place

in each district in this coming primary

in September?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, sir, that is right.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Then would the Republican Party have to ask the registrars to furnish them with

the voter's list?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, it is up to the registrars to get

out the appropriate number of lists. On

the morning of the primary or election,

the registrars must furnish an appropriate

number of copies of the lists to the poll

officers of each polling place.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

If the booths are side by side, we can designate one booth for the Republicans

and the rest for the Democrats. Is that

okay?

MR. RODGERS:

I don't think you would even have to

do that, I think you could just designate

the ballot boxes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

You can lock a pasteboard box just the same as a wooden box, can't you?

34-1303(b) 34-708

69.

MR.. RODGERS:

Well, I don't think it would be a

good idea to use a pasteboard box. I think

th&t the ballot boxes should be of more

substantial construction. The construction

of ballot boxes is not provided for in

the Code, and that is one thing that

could be prescribed in a rule issued by

the State Election Board in the case of

elections, and by a party in the case of

primaries. I think that these ballot boxes

should be constructed out of metal or wood.

I don't think it is a good idea to have

pasteboard boxes.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

The reason I raised the question is that we have never used any kind of ballot

box in Gwinnett County except pasteboard.

I'm just barely going to have enough time

to get metal ones for September.

MR.. RODGERS:

Well, the law doesn't prohibit using

cardboard boxes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

But, the Democrats and Republicans must provide ballot boxes in the September

Primaries?

MR.. ROD GERS :

No, the ordinary must provide the

ballot boxes for use in the primaries.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

Explain the last line of Section 34705(c) stating that TtThis Subsection shall

34-202(b) 34-902
34-40lCd) 34-708(a)

70.

STATEMENT: (cont'd)

not become effective until January 1, 1965.

MR. RODGERS:

As I have said, I do not believe that

Subsection (c) adds anything to the Code

because you can have separate polling

places side by side.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

I bel ieve that there is an apparent conflict between the Code and party rules.

I call your attention to Section 34-705

which says that the ordinaries shall select

the polling place within each election

district. Rule 3 of the Rules and Regula-

tions of the State Democratic Executive

Committee states that it shall be the

duty of the county committees to select

the polling places. Would you reconcile

those two statements, please sir?

MR. RODGERS:

They are not reconcilable because,

obviously, Section 34-705(a) has placed

the duty of selection upon the ordinary.

Those rules were drawn prior to the passage

of the Election Code. I understand that

the Democratic Executive Committee is

going to amend its new rules so that

they will be entirely consistent with

the Election Code. Actually, key

officials of the Democratic Party

supported this arrangement of the ordinary

34-705(c) 34-705(a)
34-705(a)

71.

MR. RODGERS: selecting and equipping the polling places (cont'd)
because it takes a financial burden off

the Party and shifts it over to the public.

Section 34-705 supersedes any conflicting

party rule, and now it is up to the ordinary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Unless we are required to register by party, it would be impossible for the

registrars to make up a Republican list.

MR. RODGERS:

You do not have to make up a list

of Republicans, you merely have to make

up a list of electors for use in a

Republican primary. In a county where

the Democrats and Republicans are going

to conduct primaries on September 9, you

34-624

will send out lists to the polling places

in each district which will be identical,

one for the Republicans and one for the

Democrats. Everyone should be advised

through the news media that you cannot

vote in both primaries. A record is made

of the electors who vote in each primary

and, of course, it would be a good idea

to compare these lists to see if there

is any duplication. If there is any

duplication then, of course, that is

illegal and constitutes a crime. In

34-1929

the case of a runoff primary -- say if the

72.

MR. RODGERS: Democrats hold a runoff--then the registrars (cont'd)
in preparing a list for the runoff would

subtract therefrom the names of all persons

who voted in the Republican primary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Who compares the list for duplication?

MR. RODGERS:

The law does not put that duty on any

particular person. It can be done by any-

one. The Board of Registrars or any interested

elector. All records are open to public in- 34-633

spection and anyone who wanted to could go

and inspect these lists after the primaries

or elections.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What effect would it have on an election if a person voted in both primaries?

MR. RODGERS:

Well, that is just a crime. If you

had enough of those to place the primary

or election in doubt, you could overturn

34-1703

the results of the primary or election.

Obviously, a person cannot vote in both,

but you can't exclude his ballot because

it is secret and you can't identify the

ballot. Therefore, in the case of a

close race, if there were a sufficient

number of votes cas t there in to place

the result of the race in doubt then the

result would be invalidated. For example,

suppose one man got 70 votes and another

73.

MR. RODGERS: got 75 and there were six votes cast (conttd)
illegally therein. These six votes would

place the result in doubt because of the

possibility that they were among 75

received by the candidate returned as

receiving the most votes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could one vote do that?

MR. RODGERS:

It could be if there were a one-vote

difference. In other words, if there were 34-1703

two Democrats running for the same party

nomination and there was one vote difference

between them and it was determined that one

or two people voted in both primaries, then

these illegal votes would place in doubt

the validity of the result of the prlinary

as to that race.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

I dontt see any difference in one vote and one thousand votes.

MR. RODGERS:

Well, very clearly, if a candidate won

by a substantial margin, then the result

34-1703

should not be overturned just because there

were a few illegal votes. The number of

illegal votes have to be sufficient to place

the result in doubt. I linagine that a few

illegal votes are cast in every large prlinary

and election and if these few votes invalidated

74.

MR. RODGERS: the result then we would have a very
(cont'd)
difficult time nominating or electing

anyone.

Section 34-706 provides for the use

34-706

of public buildings. The idea there is

to try to make as much use of public build-

ings as practicable so as to save money be-

cause the use of private property generally

requires the payment of rental.

Section 34-708 prescribes how these

34-708

polling places should be arranged. Sec-

tion 34-708 states that the ordinary shall

cause all rooms used as polling places to

be suitably provided with heat and light,

and in districts in which ballots are used,

with a sufficient number of voting compart-

ments or booths with proper supplies. These

supplies would include the necessary pens

or pencils for electors to use in marking

their ballot. The booths should be set up

in such a manner as to provide for

voting in secrecy. The physical layout of

a polling place should be something like

this. Let us imagine a large rectangular

room with a single door in the front. The

voting compartments would be lined up along

the back wall and in front of them would be

75.

MR. RODGERS: a row of one or more ballot boxes. At (cont1d)
least six feet beyond the ballot boxes

would be a guard rail approximately waist

high with an entrance in the middle.

Beyond the guard rail but right at the

entrance therein, would be arranged the

tables and chairs of the poll officers.

The only ones admitted within the enclosed

space (the area containing the voting

compartments and ballot boxes) are electors

in the act of voting and poll officers.

The area of the polling place outside the

enclosed space is of course open to the

public.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do these things have to be done by the ordinary?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, that is right, it is up to the

ordinary to fix up these polling places.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

In our county, we have nothing to set up the polling places with. Should

I get these things?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, you should try to provide this

equipment after of course receiving

appropriate budgetary authorization from

the governing authority of the county.

Section 34-709 provides that the

ordinary shall fix the compensation for

34-708 34-710 34-709

76. MR. RODGERS: rent, heat, light and janitorial services, (cont1d)
and that such compensation is paid from county funds.
Section 34-709 also provides that no compensation for rent, heat or light shall be paid in the case of schoolhouses, municipal buildings or rooms, or other public buildings used as polling places. In other words, in the case of schoolhouses, the school board cannot charge for anything but janitorial services.
Section 34-801 provides for the general primary. In 1966 and thereafter, all general primaries of both parties will be conducted on the second Wednesday in September in each even-numbered year. The last sentence of 34-801 preserves the results of the early county primaries for this year only.
Section 34-802 defines those officers who are elected in the November election.
County officers, JPT S and constables,
along with the others, have to run in the November election next preceding the expiration of their term of office.
The requirement that JPT S and constables
run in the November election was enacted several years ago and the new Code merely

34-709 34-709
34-801
34-802

77. MR. RODGERS: continues this requirement. (cont1d)
Section 34-901 provides for the registration of political organizations. Prior to the enactment of this Section, no one knew how many political organizations were operating within the State. Obviously, it is in the public interest that all political organizations register with a public official so that the public may be informed as to their nature and identity. Also, the requirement for prior registration precludes an organization from developing during the heat of a campaign and us ing a name confus ingly similar to that of one of the political parties.
Section 34-901(e) states the real meat of the coconut, as far as registration is concerned, because it provides that unless a political party or body is registered it shall not have its name or the names of its candidates placed on any nomination petition, ballot or ballot label. If the nominees of a strange political organization should seek to qualify with an ordinary, he should check to see if the organization has been properly registered with the Secretary of State.

34-901 34-90lC e)

78.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-902 defines the minimum

(cont'd)

skeletal organization which each political

34-902

party must possess. This Section provides

that there shall be a state executive

committee of each political party exercis-

ing state-wide jurisdiction and control

over party affairs and a county executive

committee in each county in which it holds

a primary exercising county-wide jurisdiction

and control over party affairs. Subsection

(b) defines the rule making power of the

state executive committee. Subsection (c)

defines the rule making power of the county

executive committees and requires that each

committee must file its rules and regulations

with the ordinary. In the case of those

county committees which do not have rules

of their own, I suggest out of an abundance

of precaution that the committee adopt the

rules of the State committee and file them

with the ordinary.

Section 34-902(d) is an important

34-902(d)

provision. It provides that any person

seeking party office in a primary shall be

governed by the provis ions of the Code re-

lating to a person seeking party nomination

in a primary in so far as such application

79. MR. RODGERS: is practicable. This provision was put Ccont'd)
in because it seems that in a few counties the county committee opened and closed qualifications for candidates seeking election to the county committee without the public being aware of it. The main purpose of Subsection Cd) is to close qualifications for party office at the same time qualifications for party nomination are closed and thereby prevent an early and secret closing.
Section 34-903 defines the supersedure power possessed by each State executive committee. In the past several county committees have defied the orders of the State committee and have gone ahead and conducted the primaries the way they wanted to. Because of this, the General Assembly put in Section 34-903 and it provides a tremendous power. I hope it will never be abused. Section 34-903 provides that when the State executive committee has reason to believe that the laws governing primaries, or the orders, rules or regulations of the State executive committee relating thereto, are not being, or will not be fairly, impartially or properly enforced or applied

34-903

80.

MR. RODGERS: in any county, by the county executive (cont'd)
committee of the party in such county, then

the State executive committee shall issue

to such county committee a written notice

of opportunity for hearing. After issuing

such notice and after holding a hearing,

if one is requested, the State committee

can supersede the then members of the county

committee by putting in a set of new members

and take over the operation of the primary.

Section 34-903 does not provide for judicial

review of supersedure action by the State

committee, and I doubt seriously if the

courts would review such action because it

is political in nature due to it being a

party matter over which the State committee

has complete discretion. One of the ironic

things about this Code is that many people

were fearful of giving the State Election

Board too much power irrespective of the fact

that its action is always subject to judicial

review. However, as you can see the State

committee has been given an awesome power

over the county committees and I hope that

we will never see the day when it is abused.

Section 34-904 provides for the investiga-

of fraud and irregularity in a primary. A

34-904

81.

MR. RODGERS: person having evidence of fraud or irregu(cont'd)
larity in a county primary may petition the

34-904

State executive committee for an investiga-

tion, and the State execut ive committee can

come down and investigate it. However, the

State executive committee is handicapped in

conducting such an investigation because it

has no subpoena power. If the petitioner

is s till dis satisfied after the inves tiga-

tion, he can appeal to the State Election

Board (which does have subpoena powers)

and it can come down and conduct an investi-

gation. The State Election Board can also

conduct an investigation upon the request

34-904(g)

of the State executive committee holding

the primary. The State Election Board

does not have power to conduct investiga-

tions of primaries unless the procedure in

34-904 is followed. If the Board or the

State committee find fraud or irregularity

in a primary they report it to the solicitor

general and t he grand jury.

Section 34-905 defines the basic

34-905

structure and organization of political

bodies which largely parallel those pro-

vis ions in Section 34-902 governing political

parties.

Section 34-l00l(b) sets up your

34-l00l(b)

82. MR. RODGERS: candidate qualification deadline for the (cont'd)
General Election to be held on November 3, 1964. All Federal offices, State offices, except State representatives, JF's and constables, have to qualify with the Secretary of State at least thirty days prior to the Election and, therefore, the last day for qualifying is October 3, 1964. Everyone else qualifies with the ordinary by the same deadline.
However, Section 34-1001(b) prescribes a different qualification deadline for any candidate required to accompany his notice of candidacy with a nomination petition. Such a candidate must file his notice at least fifty days prior to the General Election. These twenty additional days were put in the law in order to provide adequate time to check a nomination petition. If petition candidates were permitted to file up to thirty days before the election as other candidates are, then the preparation of the ballots would be delayed because of the time required to check the petitions. Such a delay in the preparation of the ballots would of course preclude many people overseas from voting by absentee ballot.
(Next page is 84.)

34-1001(b)

84.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-l00l(c) sets forth the

(cont'd)

five instances where no nomination petition

34-l00l(c)

is required. Political bodies and their

candidates cannot take advantage of excep-

tions (i), (ii), and (iii) because they are

reserved for political parties.

Exception (v) applies in the case of

a county in which no primary is conducted

for the nomination of candidates for county

or militia district offices or for membership

in the State House of Representatives. This

exception was put in for the benefit of

several counties in North Georgia in which

no such primaries are conducted. In interpret-

ing this exception, it is important to note

that if a primary is conducted for anyone of

the named offices then the exception does not

apply. For example, if a primary is conducted

for Stat.e Representative then candidates for

county and militia district offices cannot

take advantage of this exception.

Section 34-l00l(d) merely requires that 34-l00l(d)

nominees of political organizations must file

certificates of nomination by their respective

organizations as evidence of their nomination.

Section 34-l00l(e) requires that each

34-l00l(e)

candidate at the time of qualification to

85.

MR. RODGERS: have his name placed on election ballots (cont'd)
must file an affidavit setting forth

certain facts concerning his candidacy.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can a political party nominate its candidates?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, sir, a political party can

nominate its candidates. The catch is

getting the nominee's name printed on the

general election ballot. If the nominee

does not fall within one of the five excep-

tions stated in Section 34-1001(c), then he

must prepare and file the necessary nomina-

tion petition in order to get his name

printed on the ballot.

Section 34-1002 applies in instances

where candidates are seeking two or more

public offcices each having the same title

and to be filled at the same election by

the vote of the same electors. Examples

of such offices are constables, county

commissioners, and State representatives

in those counties having two or three

representatives. However, note that county

commissioners are exempt from this Section

during the year 1964.

Section 34-1002 requires that in such

instances the offices should be specifically

designated by some appropriate designation

34-1001(c) 34-1002

86.

MR. RODGERS: such as "Bracket Nos. 1, 2 and 3". In (contI d)
other words, under Section 34-1002 a candi-

date i required to designate his opposi-

tion. He cannot run against the field.

Such a designation is necessary in order

to compute the existence or non-existence

of a majority vote. Also, please note that

Section 34-1002 is a companion provision

to Section 34-1514 which requires a majority

vote for nomination or election.

Section 34-1003 concerns the filling

34-1003

of vacancies in nominations made by political

parties and bodies. When a primary has been

held and a candidate nominated therein resigns

or dies, then the vacancy in nomination should

be filled in order to protect the party1s

interest in the public office for which such

candidate has been nominated. Under the old

law, and as recommended by the Study Committee,

such a vacancy in nomination could be filled in

any way desired by the State executive committee

of the party involved. In the Senate, there

were certain people who didn T t want to give

the S tate committee such great power over

filling vacancies. They wanted to make sure

there was plenty c grass root support for any

person selected to fill such a vacancy. There-

fore, a procedure for filling these vacancies

87.

MR. RODGERS: by party convention was devised. Section (cont I d)
34-1003(a) sets up that procedure by provid-

34-1003(a)

ing that any vacancy happening in any party

nomination (filled by primary) for a Federal

or State office to be filled by the vote

of the electors of more than one county,

by reason of the death or withdrawal of

any candidate therefor, occurring after

nomination but at least ten days prior

to the election to fill the publi~ office

sought by such candidate, may be filled by

a substituted nomination made by a conven-

tion composed of the members of the county

executive committee of such party in each

county in which electors reside who are

eligible to vote for the filling of such

public office. At the convention, each

member of a county executive committee has

one vote. The catch which will have to be

regulated by party rules is that there is

no limit in this Code as to the number of

members that may compose a county executive

committee. Therefore, a thinly populated

county could have a very large committee and,

hence, great voting strength at a convention;

and a thickly populated county could have a

small committee and, hence, very weak voting

88.

MR. RODGERS: strength at a convention. As I said, a (cont'd)
party should adopt some kind of rule limit-

ing the number of persons which may serve

on a county executive committee.

Section 34-1003(b) applies to a vacancy 34-1003(b)

in any party nomination (filled by primary)

for a Federal, State or county office filled

by the vote of electors within a single

county, which may be filled by a substituted

nomination made by the county executive

committee of the party in such county.

It is important to note that Subsec-

tions (a) and (b) apply only to primary

nominations, while Subsection (c) applies

to political party or body nominations made

by means other than by primary. An example

of a nominee which would fall within the

purview of Subsection (c) is one nominated

by petition.

Section 34-1004 requires the charging

34-1004

of qualification fees. Under the old law,

the charging of these fees was permissive,

now it is mandatory. The Section provides

that the governing authority of any county,

at least ninety days prior to the election

in the case of a general election shall fix

and publish a reasonable qualification fee to

be paid by candidates seeking election to

89. MR. RODGERS: any county or militia district office or (cont'd)
membership in the House of Representatives of the General Assembly. Thes e fees are paid to the ordinary. The Secretary of State is also required to fix, publish and charge reasonable qualification fees in the case of candidates who qualify with him. The Secretary of S tate keeps no part of the qualification fees he collects, but remits the fee to the governing authority of the county involved and in cases where two or more counties are involved he divides the fee equally among them.
The amount of the qualification fees should bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of conducting the election involved. You should also keep in mind that one of the purposes of a qualification fee is to discourage
candidates who are not really serious about running. However, a qualification fee should not be fixed so high as to discourage serious candidates.
You will also note that Section 34-1004 requires the governing authority of a county or the Secretary of State to "publish" the qualification fees. The word "publish" does not require publication by newspaper. The filing of the fee list in the office of the

90.

MR. RODGERS: county governing authority or the ordinary, (cont'd)
or in the office of the Secretary of State,

is a sufficient publication under Section

34-1004 because such a filing gives the

public constructive notice. Of course,

the Section does not prohibit publication

by newspaper, but it certainly does not

require it.

The last sentence of Section 34-1004

provides that no candidate nominated in a

primary or in a convention held by his

political party shall be required to pay

such fee. In other words, an independent

candidate or the nominee of a political

body is required to pay the fee, but the

nominee of a political party does not have

to pay the fee if he has been nominated by

primary or convention. The word "conven-

tion" is rather broad. Therefore, any

nominee of a party not nominated by primary

may avoid paying a qualification fee by the

nominating committee going through the

formality of holding a convention.

Section 34-1005 limits the conduct of

34-1005

primaries to political parties, and thereby

precludes a political body from conducting

them. The reason for excluding weak poDtical

91.
MR. RODGERS: organizations from conducting primaries (cont'd)
is because of the substantial manpower and financial resources necessary to conduct them in the manner intended by the Legis lature and, therefore, it did not want a weak organization to undertake their conduct. However, a political body may circulate nomination petitions in order to have the names of its nominees placed on the ballots.
Section 34-1006 fixes the qualification deadline at forty-five days prior to a general primary for candidates desiring to run therein. That deadline only applies to general primaries held after the one on September 9, 1964. The last sentence of 34-1006 permits a party to fix its own candidate qualification deadline for any primary held on or before September 9, 1964.
Section 34-1007(a) requires that a party must provide poll officers for the polling place in each election district in the area wherein the electors reside who are eligible to vote in the primary. The reason for this provision is to prevent a party from conducting a primary by opening only a very few polling places which would

34-1006 34-1007(a)

92.

MR. RODGERS: result in great inconvenience to the (cont'd)
electorate due to many of them having to

travel great distances in order to vote.

In the absence of Section 34-1007(a), a

party could conduct a primary for governor

by only opening 159 polling places -- one

for each county.

Section 34-1007(b) permits the county

34-1007(b)

executive committee of two or more political

parties who are going to conduct primaries

at the same time to use the same poll officers

if the respective committees can agree on

the proration of the costs involved. They

may split the costs any way they desire.

Of course, if the respective county committees

cannot agree, then each committee must provide

a set of poll officers for each district.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do you have to open a polling place in each district with at least three people to

manage it?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, sir, that's right.

Section 34-1008 provides for the joint

34-1008

use of voting machines and vote recorders by

parties conducting primaries. The Legislature

intends that counties possessing these machines

will furnish them to parties either free of

charge or, where rental is required, at an

amount not in excess of the lowest reasonable

93.

MR. RODGERS: cost necessary to furnish the machines. (cont'd)
The idea is for parties to obtain the use

of voting machines and vote recorders at

the least possible cost, if any. As you

know, the candidates of two or more parties

may be placed on the same voting machine

34-l3l5(b)

and an elector can be prevented from voting

in more than one party primary by the use

of a primary locking bar operated by a

poll officer.

Please note that the last sentence

of Section 34-1008 provides that if a party

does not pay its share of the rental for

the use of the machines, it must use paper

ballots.

The purpose of Section 34-l0l0(b) is

34-10l0(b)

fix the minimum number of signatures re-

quired on a nomination petition which is

5% of the electors eligible to vote in the

last general election for the filling of

the office involved. Subsection (c) pro-

vides that any elector who is eligible to

34-l0l0(c)

vote in the general election in which the

nomination petition will be used is eligible

to sign the petition. Consequently, people

who have registered to vote since the last

general election can sign a nomination petition

94.
MR. RODGERS: if they are eligible to vote in the next Ccont1d)
general election. Subsection Cc) further provides that
a nomination petition can only support the candidacy of a single candidate. The reason for this res triction is to prevent a popular party nominee for an office - - say Governor from circulating a nomination petition containing also the names of weaker or lesser known nominees and thereby pulling them along on the strength of the popular candidate because when a person signed for the popular candidate he would also be signing for the weaker ones as well.
Subsection Cd) requires that the upper portion of each sheet of a nomination petition, prior to being signed by any petitioner, shall bear the name and title of the officer with whom the petition will be filed, and the name of the candidate to be supported by the petition. The reason for this requirement is to prevent the switching of sheets between nomination petitions. In the past, instances have come to our attention where a candidate would begin the circulation of a nomination petition but become discouraged

34-l0l0Cd)

95. MR. RODGERS: and quit; and then would turn over the (cont1d)
signature sheets, containing no such heading, to another candidate who would add them to his petition. Obviously, the printing of a heading on each sheet prior to circulation will prevent this kind of fraud.
Subsection (d) also requires that an affidavit of the circulator appear on the bottom or back of each sheet of the petition. The requirement of this verification is a further protection against fraud.
Section 34-1010(e) defines the period during which a nomination petition may be circulated. In the case of the General Election to be held on November 3, 1964, the earliest day on which a nomination petition could be circulated was March 16, 1964, and the last day on which it can be signed is September 11, 1964, and the last day on which it can be filed is September 12, 1964. The reason for prescribing a deadline prior to which no petition can be circulated is to avoid stale petitions. Otherwise, a candidate could begin the circulation of a petition almost two years
in advance of the election in which it is to be used.

34-1010(e)

96.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-1011 prescribes the proce-

(cont1d)

dure for examining a nomination petition.

34-1011

You don't have to check every signature.

If the petition appears in proper order and

a spot check of the signatures turns out

satisfactory, I would approve the petition.

Section 34-1011(c) provides a mandamus

34-101l(c)

procedure for obtaining judicial review of

the action of the Secretary of State or the

ordinary in denying a nomination petition.

This Section prescribes no procedure for

obtaining judicial review of the grant of

a petition. However, the Legislature did

not intend that an interested person would

be remediless in this regard, and in my

opinion the proper remedy for testing the

legality of the grant of a petition would

be by an action for injunction.

Section 34-1102 prescribes the form of

34-1102

ballot for use in primaries. Subsection (b)

34-1102(b)

retains the "marking out" method of voting in

primaries and, therefore, there is no change

from the old law in this regard. The Study

Committee recommended that instead of marking

out you put a cross or check mark by the

name of the person you want to vote for but

that was rejected by someone who did not want

97.

MR. RODGERS: his constituents experimenting on him. (cont1d)
Subsection (c) continues the practice

34-1102(c)

of listing the names of candidates for the

same nomination in alphabetical order under

the title of the office for which they seek

nomination. Consistent with the custom in

the past, Subsection (c) requires that the

incumbency of a candidate seeking party

nomination for the public office he then

holds shall be indicated on the ballot.

This indication generally results in an

advantage to the incumbent, however, I

believe it is legitimate information for

inclusion on the ballot because the electorate

is entitled to know who the incumbent is.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do you have to indicate incumbency on vot ing mac hines?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

This is our first time to use voting machines. Is this done in any other county?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

Yes, it is done in Bibb County.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-1103 prescribes the form

34-1103

of the election ballot and the method of

marking it. In an election, you are

guaranteed the right by the Georgia Consti-

tution to vote for anyone you want to.

98. MR. RODGERS: An elector may vote a straight party (contfd)
ticket, or a ticket made up of candidates of different parties, and he may cast a write- in vote for any person whose name is not printed on the ballot.
The Election Code prescribes a new method for marking election ballots for those who want to vote a split-ticket. For example, under the old law if an elector wanted to vote for both Democrats and Republicans he would place a cross mark in the box for voting a straight Democratic ticket and then mark out the name of each Democrat he did not want to vote for. Next, he would place a cross mark in the box for voting a straight Republican ticket and then mark out the name of each Republican he did not want to vote for. As you can see the old method of voting a split-ticket was very complicated and few people knew how to do it.
Under the Election Code, the procedure for voting a split ticket is greatly simplified. The name of each candidate appearing on the ballot has a box printed to the left of his name. Therefore, an elector desiring to vote a split-ticket merely places a

34-1103(b)

99.

MR. RODGERS: cross mark next to the name of each candi(cont'd)
date he desires to vote for.

If an elector desires to vote a straight

party ticket, he places a cross mark in the

box at the top of the ticket the same as

under the old law.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can I put all unopposed candidates on a voting machine in an election under

one lever?

MR. RODGERS:

No, that wouldn't be legal, because

electors have the right to be selective --

to "single-shot" vote. If an elector does

not want to vote for a candidate he does

not have to. Consequently, if you place

several candidates under the same lever,

an elector cannot vot e for any of them

without voting for all of them.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

They are all unoppos ed.

MR. RODGERS:

I know, but electors have the right

to "single-shot" and putting all unopposed

candidates under one lever would be depriv-

ing electors of this right.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could I ask if it is being done S tatewide?

MR. RODGERS:

I don't know about that, but it shouldn't

be.

100.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-ll03(b) also governs the

(contTd)

method of casting write-in votes. A

write-in vote may only be made in the

write-in column. It must be manually

written in and the us e of stickers, pasters

and stamps in making a wri te- in vote is

prohib i ted.

Section 34-ll03(c) requires that

the columns of political parties appear

on the left side of the ballot, according

to the number of votes the ir candidates

for Governor received in the last

gubernatorial election and to the right

of these are the columns of the political

bodies arranged in alphabetical order, and

to the right of these is the independent

column. One important provision of Sub-

section (c) provides that "The names of

candidates seeking the same office shall

be printed horizontally opposite one

another in their respective columns and

such columns shall be of sufficient length

to permit such an arrangement." In other

words, t he names of oppos ing c and idat es mus t

be printed opposite each other on the ballot

so that electors may find them easily.

34-ll03(b) 34-1103(c)

101.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-1103(c) further requires

(cont'd)

that to the right of the independent

column shall be printed a write-in column

containing sufficient blank space for the

insertion of write- in votes. In other

words, the write-in column should be as

long as the longest column on the ballot

in the event someone wants to cast a

write-in vote for each office up for elec-

tion.

QUESTION
FROM THE
FLOOR:

Will the Secretary of State certify to the ordinaries the form of ballot as

always?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

Section 34-1103(d) requires that

the names of presidential electors be

entered on the ballot in alphabetical

order under the names of their political

organization's candidates for President

and Vice President. The last sentence

of this Subsection provides for placing

the names of the presidential electors

in a separate column if the political

organization elects at least forty-five

days prior to the general election.

This splitting of the ticket is designed

to protect the local members of a party

that does not want to run under the names

34-1103(c)
34-301(d) 34-1103(d)

102. MR. RODGERS: of its national candidates for Pres ident (cont'd)
and Vice President. In other words, if the national ticket was unpopular in this State and if it headed the ticket it would cost local party candidates votes because of the reluctance of voters to split their tickets. Putting the national ticket of a party in a separate column protects to some extent the local party candidates who are placed in a different column.
Section 34-1l03(e) governs the submission of questions to the electorate. The Subsection provides that in inst ances where the Legislature fails to prescribe the form of the question, the Secretary of State shall prescribe the form if the question is a proposed constitutional amendment or is voted on by electors of more than one county. If the question does not propose a constitutional amendment and is voted on by electors within a single county, then the ordinary determines the form of the question.
Section 34-1103(e) prescribes a new method of phras ing ques tions which wi 11 substantially shorten general election ballots. In the past questions have been

34-l103(e)

103.
MR. RODGERS: submitted to the electorate in the form (cont'd)
of a positive statement and negative

statement. For example, the following

question will be voted on by the peop le

in the next General Election:
o For ratification of amendment to the Constitution so as to create a new State Highway Board and a Director of the State Highway Department.
o Against ratification of amendment to the Constitution so as to create a new State Highway Board and a Director of the State Highway Department.

Under the new procedure prescribed

by Section 34-1103(e), a question such as

the one above would be stated in the

following manner.

Yes 0
No 0

Should the Constitution be amended so as to create a new State Highway Board and a Director of the State Highway Department.

As you can readily see, the statement

of questions according to the new procedure

will cut in half the space required under

the old procedure to state questions on

the ballots. This new procedure wi 11

result in a substantial reduction in the

size of the ballots due to the vast

number of proposed constitutional amend-

ments which are submitted to the electorate

at every general election.

104.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-1104 prescribes

(cont'd)

substantially the same form of ballot

34-1104

that the old law did. As you know, the

bas ic form of a ballot is in three parts

- - the stub, the number strip and the

ballot itself. The stub and number strip

both bear the same number. At the time a

ballot is issued to an elector the number

strip with the ballot attached is separated

from the stub. After marking his ballot,

the elector folds it in such a manner

that the markings are concealed from

view but the number on the number strip

is exposed to view. Before the elector

deposits his ballot in the ballot box,

a poll officer checks to see that the

number on the number strip coincides

with the number on the stub from which

the ballot was withdrawn. If the numbers

coincide, then the poll officer knows that

the elector has not switched ballots.

The comparison of the stub and number

strip numbers is designed to prevent a

.fraud by which a vote buyer, having obtained

a blank official ballot, marks it and gives

it to a bribed elector wi th ins truct ions to

cast it and bring back a blank official

105.
MR. RODGERS: ballot from the polling place; upon
(cont'd) which, he receives his bribe. The process

is continued throughout election day.

Obviously, the use of stubs and number

strips and the comparison of their numbers

prevents the commission of this fraud.

Section 34-1105 provides an important protection for office holders whose names

34-1105
,

are well-known. The Section provides

that when two or more candidates for the

same nomination or office have the same

or similar surnames, the offic ial with

whom they qualify shall, upon the request

of anyone of them, print the occupation

or residence of each candidate so request-

ing on the ballots under his name. The

obvious purpose of this requirement is to

prevent the electorate from becoming con-

fused in voting for these candidates.

For example, if an unknown person were

running against you and if he had a name

similar to yours, he could take away a

lot of votes from you through confusion

unless your occupation or residence were

printed on the ballots in order to identify .

you.

Section 34-1108 requires that the

34-1108

superintendent have on file in his office,

106.

MR. RODGERS: at least five days prior to the day of (cont'd)
holding each primary and election, open

to public inspection, forms of the ballots,

with the names and such statements and

notations as may be required by the

provisions of the Code, printed thereon,

which shall be used in each election

district within the county.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Didn't I read here somewhere that I could prepare and distribute sample

ballots 25% larger or 25% smaller than

the size of the actual ballot?

MR. RODGERS:

I bel ieve you are referring to the

printing of a sample ballot in a news-

34-1913

paper. Section 34-1913 states that

!lAny person who makes, constructs or

has in his possession any counterfeit

of an official ballot or ballot card,

shall be guilty of a felony. This

Section shall not be applied to facsimile

ballots printed and published as an aid

to electors in any newspaper generally

and regularly circulated within the State

so long as such facsimile ballot is at

least twenty-five per cent larger or smaller

than the official ballot of which it is a

facsimile." In my opinion it would be all

107.

MR. RODGERS: right to print sample ballots so long as (cont'd)
they did not constitute counterfeit

ballots within the meaning of this

Section;

Chapter 34-12 regulates the use of

voting machines and vote recorders. Under

the old law, local legislation had to be

passed for each county wanting to use

voting machines. Under Sections 34-1202

34-1202

and 34-1203, any county in the State

34-1203

may adopt the use of voting machines on

the bas is of local determinat ion.

Section 34-1202 empowers the govern-

34-1202

ing authority of any county to authorize

the use of voting machines merely by a

majority vote. The governing authority

of any county which now possesses voting

machines should adopt a resolution in

accordance with Section 34-1202 right

away.

If the governing authority does not

34-1203

want to assume this responsibility on its

own of authorizing the use of this expen-

sive equipment, then it may let the people

decide whether they want to adopt the use

of voting machines by holding a referendum

on this ques tion in the manner prescribed by

Section 34-1203.

108.

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-1204 permits the installa-

(cont1d)

tion of voting machines either gradually

or simultaneously throughout the election

34-1204
..

dis tric ts of the county. In other words,

voting machines may be used in some districts

and paper ballots or vote recorders in

others.

Section 34-1205 requires the examina-

34-1205

tion by the Secretary of State of each

make of voting machine prior to its use

in this State. The Secretary of State

is assisted in his examination by an

expert in patent 1 aw and two experts

in mechan ics. The pu rpos e of this Sec-

tion is of course to insure that no make

of voting machine is used in this State

which does not fully comply with the law.

Please note that each voting machine does

not have to be approved but only each

make of voting machine has to be approved.

The last sentence of Section 34-1205(a) 34-1205(a)

permits each county now owning voting

machines to obtain a free examination of

their make or makes if the county requests

same wi thin a period of ninety days

following June 24, 1964.

In view of Section 34-1205, no

county should purchase or lease voting

109.

MR. RODGERS: machines from a company unless the county (cont'd)
first determines that the company has

obtained the prior approval of the Secre-

tary of State concerning their use.

Section 34 -12 06 prescribes the

34-1206

general requirements governing voting

machines which conform very closely to

the requirements under the old law. In

particular, please note Subsection (g)

concerning write-in votes. The proviso

to this provision requires that a paper

ballot be furnished to an elector de-

siring to make a write-in vote when it

is difficult to cast such a vote on a

machine.

The remaining provisions of Chapter 34-

12 governing voting machines are self

explanatory and, therefore, I will move on

to Section 34-1217 and the following Sec-

tions which govern vote recorders.

Section 34-1217 makes the use of vote 34-1217

recorders a matter for local determina-

tion by leaving their use up to the govern-

ing authority of each county. However,

no referendum procedure for submitting

the question of their use to the electorate

is provided because their acquisition is

no.

MR. RODGERS: far less expens ive than that of voting (cont1d)
machines.

The remaining provisions of Chapter

12 governing vote recorders are self-

explanatory and, therefore, I will not

take time to comment on them ind i vidually.

One th ing to keep in mind concerning

34-12

11

the use of voting machines and vote recorders

in primaries is that the mach ines and

recorders remain in the custody of the

ordinary and other public officials at

all times except during the time the

polls are open. The ordinary is responsi-

ble for preparing them for use in the

primary and delivering them to the poll-

ing places, and returning them after the

polls are closed. The reason for this

is that these devices represent substantial

investment of public funds and therefore

they should be retained in the custody of

pub lic offic ials to the extent practicable.

There was a five-minute recess at this time.
Mr. Fortson made the announcement that he had approved,
and would be issuing a certificate to that effect, the use of the Shoup and t he Automatic Voting Machines. They were located out in the corridor for inspection.

111. There was discussion regarding the recess of the meeting. It was voted by a majority to stay until 5:00 p.m. and continue the meeting the next day for a period of ques tions and answers.

MR. RODGERS:

Chapter 34-13 governs the preparation 34-13

for and conduct of primaries and elections.

Section 34-1301 requires that the

34-1301

superintendent prepare instructions for

the guidance of electors in election

districts in which ballots or voting

machines are used, and further requires

that the superintendent provide blank

forms of oaths of poll officers and

affidavits of challenged electors. The

reference to "affidavi ts of electors"

is an error and should have been stricken

since the law no longer requires their

use. As you know, under Section 34-628

34-628

the registrars must decide all challenges

of an elector's qualifications except in

the case of electors voting by absentee

ballot. See Section 34-1407(b)(d).

34-1407(b)(d)

The Section imposes on the superinten-

dent the duty of providing all forms

not provided by the Secretary of State.

Section 34-1302(a) prescribes the

34-1302(a)

form of voter's certificate. Every

112. MR. RODGERS: person who votes in a primary or election (cont'd)
must sign a voter's certificate except one who votes by absentee ballot. This is similar to the requirement under the old law that each voter had to sign a voter's identification book. Requiring the signature of each voter is a great protection against fraud. In the case of a contest where it is alleged that persons voted under assumed names, the signatures on the voters' certificates could be compared with the signatures on the registration cards.
Subsection (b) requires that these certificates be placed in a binder. However, Subsection (c) states that "Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code,the superintendent may cause such form of voter's certificate to be printed on the ballot stubs when ballots are used and in such cases the use of the voter's certificate binder may be dispensed with; and, when voting machines are used, the superintendent may cause such form of certificate to be printed on the slip containing the elector's number in the order of his admission to the voting

34-1302 (b)

113.

MR. RODGERS: machines.". It should be noted however, (cont'd)
that the practice of printing the certificate

on ballot stubs slows down the voting process

in the more populous districts because each

voter in turn must sign the stub whereas

if the certificates are printed on separate

sheets of paper then many certificates can

be signed s imul taneous ly.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Will they sign the numbered list of voters?

MR. RODGERS:

No, a poll officer writes down the

name of each elector on the numbered list

34-l3l0(a)

of voters in the order in which he receives

his ballot. Also, another poll officer

checks off the name of the elector on the

elector's list which is the one supplied

by the registrars. In other words, the

name of each pers on who votes is indicated voter's certificates,
on the/electors list, and the numbered list

of vo ters .

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Would you only have to have one such list or are you required to keep all three

lists?

MR. RODGERS:

No, sir, the law requires all three

34-l3l0(a)

lists as a triple check against error.

STATEMENT
FROM THE FLOOR:

There have to be three copies of the numbered list of voters.

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, however, one poll officer may

114.

MR. RODGERS: make all three lists at the same time (cont1d)
by use of carbon paper.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can we use our own discretion in the preparation of voter's certificates?

34-1302(c)

May we have them bound up first?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, I would think that you could

have them bound first. If you had the

voter's certifi cate printed on the ballot

stubs, then they would be bound first.

If you wanted to bind them first, I

wou ld sugges t that you go ahead and have

them printed on the s tub in the manner

prescribed by Section 34-l302(c).

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If you print the certificates on the ballot stubs, each individual has

to sign the certificate, it is going

to hold your speed down a great deal,

because they have to sign before you

look up thei r names. If he had it

filled out prior to signing, it would

take much less time.

MR. RODGERS:

That's right. It could be done

ei ther way. I agree with you that it

would be much quicker to have the certifi-

cates printed on separate sheets of paper

and not on the stubs.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Suppose the person applying to vote says he is /qualified and you find him not qualified,

ll5.

QUESTION: Ccont'd)

what do you do then?

MR. RODGERS:

You call up the board of registrars

to find out if a mistake has been made.

If no mistake has been made, then the

person does not vote.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Then you wou ld have to void his stub and ballot if the certificate were

prin ted 9n th e s tub and he had sign ed

it. Why couldn't you look up his name

first, and then let him sign the voter's

certif icate?

MR. RODGERS:

That would be the best way.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do the voter's certificates have to be numbered?

MR. RODGERS:

No, the certificates don't have

to be numbered, but you could number them

if you wan ted to.

In the cas e of absentee ballots, the

certificates are not used. The elector

signs that affidavit on the back of the

envelope which is tanamount to signing

the certificate.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could you have the certif icate fac ing the voter and the ballot facing the poll

officer? Then after he signed it you

could flip it over and look up the name.

34-1305 34-1302

116.

MR. RODGERS:

I don't see anything wrong with that.

There is a good deal of flexibility in

the way of handling this. No matter how

you do it, the main thing is to have the

voter's certificate signed.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

How many copies of the numbered list of voters is required?

34-1310(a)

MR. RODGERS:

I believe it is three copies, one

clerk could make these simultaneously

by the use of carbon paper.

QUESTIOO FROM THE FLOOR:

Suppose you have someone who doesn't want to sign the voter's certificate?

34-1302

MR. RODGERS:

They cannot vote if they do not

sign the voter's certificate.

QUESTIOO FROM THE FLOOR:

Can a sample ballot printed in a newspaper be carried into the polls by

an elector for the purpose of assisting

him in voting?

MR. RO DGERS :

Yes. An elector may carry any

newspaper clipping or other memorandum

into the polls with him for the purpose

of assisting him in voting. At one time

there was a prohibition against this in

the Election Code bill, but it was stricken

prior to passage.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What happens when a voter deposits his ballot in the ballot box with the number strip

attached?

117.

MR. RODGERS:

The Code provides that any ballot

that is identifiable cannot be counted.

Consequently, that ballot would have to

be rejected and not counted because the

number on the number strip identifies

the voter.

QUESTION FROM TIlE FLOOR:

Section 34-1308 (c) provides that after the poll officers of a district

us ing ballots have been 0 rganized, the

chief manager shall designate an assistant

manager to have charge of the receipt

and deposit of ballots in the ballot

box. Does this assistant manager have

to actually handle the ballots?

MR. RODGERS:

No, he is only supposed to observe

the voter detach the number strip and

depos it the ballot in t he ballot box.

The assistant manager is not supposed

to touch the marked ballot at the time

it is deposited. This procedure is

defined clearly in Section 34-1314(d).

Section 34-1305 requires that the

board of registrars be in session on

primary and election days in order to

correct errors in the electors lists.

This was required under the old law also.

The next provis i on warrant ing

consideration is Section 34-1307. There

34-1322 34-1308(c) 34-1314(d) 34-1305 34-1307

U8. MR. RODGERS: was a grea t deal of can travers y in th e (contfd)
General Assembly over this Section and as a result some of its language is not very clear. The Section provides that "No persons, with the exception of candidates, shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute any campaign literature, newspaper, booklet, pamphlet, card, sign, or any other written or printed matter of any kind in support of any person, party, body, or proposition on any primary or election day wi thin two hundred fifty feet (250') of any polling place or of the outer edge of any building within which such polling place is established, whichever distance is greater.". This provision permits a candidate to go within the 250-foot radius and verbally solicit votes, but not to dis tribute campaign literature. No person who is not a candidate can solicit votes wi thin the 250-foot radius either verbally or otherwise. The reason the General Assembly put this exception in for a candidate was because it was afraid someone would swear out a warrant against a candidate if he said "Good morning" to someone while he (the

119.

MR. RODGERS: candidate) was in the area for the purpose (cont'd)
of voting.

You should also note that under

Section 34-1938 anyone who violates the

34-1938

provisions of Section 34-1307 is guilty

of a misdemeanor.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can the superintendent make a rule expanding this dis tance?

MR. RODGERS:

At one time we had a provis 0 in the

34-1307

Section saying that the superintendent

could expand this radius if he wanted

to. However, it was stricken. Since

you have a definite distance prescribed

by statute, I do not believe the superin-

tendent could enlarge it under his rule

making power. That is my offhand opinion.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

A person can go to the steps of the polling place and campaign but cannot

go into the polling place, is that correct?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, that's right. You will notice

34-l3l9(d)

that Section 34-l3l9(d) prohibits

campaigning by anyone within the polling

place itself.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What about individuals having private property or a private house adjacent to

the polling place and they distribute

literature and campaign for a candidate

of their choice on their property. Do

120.

QUESTION: (con t'd)

the poll officers have the authority to intervene in that matter?

MR. ROD GERS :

I believe the 250-foot prohibition

against campaigning contained in Section

34-1307 applies alike to both public and

private property. I believe it is a

reasonable regulation of private property

because it is necessary to maintain peace

and good order around the polls.

Section 34-1308(c) defines the

duties of poll officers. Please note,

however, that the proviso contained in

the third sentence of Subsection (c)

and the provis ions of Subsection (d)

permit a reassignment or reallocation

of these duties when circumstances

indicate a quicker or better way of

handling things.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We operate five ballot boxes within the courthouse district. will we have

to have three poll officers for each

of these, or will one manager and

enough clerks be sufficient?

MR. RODGERS:

Are the ballot boxes separated?

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

They are separated by alphabet.

MR. RODGERS:

Oh, I see, they are all in the same

polling place. You should have three

34-1307
34-1308(c) 34-1308(d)
34-501 34-502

121.

MR.. RODGERS: managers in charge of all of them and as (cont'd)
many clerks as are needed to ass ist them.
You wouldn't have three managers for

34-501 34-502

each ballot box.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We have two managers and sufficient clerks for each box.

MR. RODGERS:

Actually, you only need three managers

and as many clerks as needed. How many

rooms do you have?

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

We have five different rooms wi th a ballot box in each.

MR. RODGERS:

Of course, then you couldn't have a

manager in each room. I would staff the

others with clerks. However, please

keep in mind that you must have three

managers, and no more than three, for

each polling place irrespective of the

number of ballot boxes in it.

Section 34-1309(a) requires the

posting of cards of instruction and notices 34-1309(a)

of penalties within the polling places for

the assistance of electors and poll officers.

The Code does not define the contents of

these cards and notices but leaves it up

to the superintendent to determine this.

In preparing these cards and penalties,

I suggest that you reproduce those provi-

s ions of the Code wh ich you deem appropriate.

122.

MR. RODGERS: In other words, I would select appropriate (cont'd)
provis ions in Chapters 34-6 and 34-13 to

make up the cards of instructions and

appropriate provisions from Chapter 34-19

to make up the notices of penalties.

After the ordinaries once prepare these

cards and notices they should preserve

them for use in primaries. I understand

that the Secretary of State may furnish

these cards and notices to you in sufficient

numbers.

Section 34-1310(a) prescribes the

34-1310(a)

method of applying to vote and the execu-

tion of voter's certificates. This

procedure applies to each primary and

on days in which Democrats and Republicans

are conducting primaries, whether together

or separately, the certificate must

specify which primary the elector is

seeking to vote in. As I have stated

before, every person who votes must

sign a voter's certificate except one

who votes by absentee ballot.

Section 34-1312 requires that

superintendents, poll officers and

all other primary and election officials

perform their duties in public. In other

123.

MR. RODGERS: words, they cannot perform their duties (cont f d)
behind closed doors or in secret places.

Now this provision does no t mean that

the crowd can grow so large as to interfere

with the conduct of the primary or elec-

tion. The poll officers would clearly

have the right to reduce the size of the

crowd if it created congestion. However,

if it becomes necessary to exclude members

of the crowd, I would not exclude representa-

tives of the Democratic Party, Republican

Party, League of Women Voters, Jaycees

or other such groups or representatives

that have a special interest in seeing

that the primary or election is conducted

fairly and honestly. This is something

you have to use your own judgment about.

Sections 34-1314, 34-1315 and 34-1316 govern the method of voting in

34-1314(a) 34-1315(a) 34-1316(b)

paper ballot, vot ing machine and vo te

recorder districts, respectively.

Please note that in each instance, an

elector is entitled to ask last minute

instructions from a poll officer as to

the proper method of voting. See Sec-

tions 34-1314(a), 34-1315(a) and 34-1316

(b). An able bodied and literate person

,

124. MR. RODGERS: may ask for these instructions and the (cont'd)
poll officer is under a duty to give them. In other words, a person may ask "How do I vote for John Doe?" or "How do I vote a split ticket?" and the poll officer is under a duty to tell him although he must not seek to persuade the elector as to how to vote. Furthermore, the poll officer must retire from the booth before the elector votes so that he may vote in secret.
Section 34-1315(b) states that at primaries, before an elector is admitted to the voting machine, it shall be adjusted by the poll officer in charge thereof, so that such elector will only be able to vote for the candidates of the party in whose primary he is then participating. This is another clear indication that a voter must publicly declare in whose primary he des ires to vote in, and that the vo ting machine cannot be adjusted in such a manner that the elector may choose his primary in secret.
Section 34-1315(d) defines the method of casting write-in votes on voting machines. please note the prohibi-

34-1315(b) 34-1315(d)

125.

MR. RODGERS: tion in parantheses against making (cont'd)
write-in votes by stickers or pasters

on voting machines. The names of write-

in candidates must be written in manually.

The assistance authorized by Sections

34-1314, 34-1315 and 34-1316 must be

distinguished from that authorized by

Section 34-1317. The assistance

34-1317

authorized under Section 34-1317 applies

on1.yto physically disabled and illiterate

electors who must have someone actually

mark the paper ballot, operate the voting

machine, or punch the ballot card for

them. Please note that before a person

receives assistance under Section 34-1317

he must take an oath to the effect that

he needs it.

Section 34-1317(b) states that "Any

34-1317(b)

elector who is entitled to receive

assistance in voting under the provisions

of th is Section shall be permitted by

the managers to select (i) any elector,

except a poll officer, who is a resident

of the election district in which the

elector requiring assistance is attempting

to vote; or (ii) the mother, father, sister,

brother, spouse or child of the elector

126.

MR. RODGERS: entitled to receive assistance, to enter
(cont'd)
the voting compartment or booth with him

34-1317(b)

to assist him in voting, such assistance

to be rendered ins ide the voting compart-

ment or booth. No person shall assist

more than ten such electors in any primary

or election.".

You will note that under category

(i), poll officers have been eliminated

from those eligible to assist electors

in voting. The reason for this is because

it was found that in some cases poll

officers were attempting to tell electors

needing assistance who to vote for.

Obvious ly, a poll officer who would do

such a thing had a fine opportunity for

influencing voters because he was at

the polls all day long.

In category (ii) the poll officer

is not excluded from rendering assistance

if he bears a close family relationship

to the elector requiring ass is tance.

Another distinction between the categories

is that under category (i) a person

rendering ass is tance must be an elector

of the election district in which the

assistance is rendered, while under category

127 .

MR. RODGERS: (ii) the person rendering assistance (cont'd)
does not have to be an elector or a

res ident of the district.

Also, it is important to note that

no person in either category (i) or

(ii) may assist more than ten electors

in anyone primary or election. The

reason for this limitation is to reduce

the effectiveness of professional markers

-- people who stand outside the polls all

day and volunteer their services to

electors requiring assistance in the hope

of influencing their vote. Furthermore,

a candidate may assist an elector in voting

if the candidate falls within either

category (i) or (ii).

Section 34-1318 states that "No

person other than the poll officers

shall take or remove any ballot from

the polling place.". The exemption for

poll officers is designed to permit

them to return the ballots to the

superintendent for county-wide consolida-

tion.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What about an old person coming to the polls in a car who is unable to enter

the polling place and a poll officer taking

a ballot out to the car to be voted by the

person?

34-1318

128.

MR. RODGERS:

Persons who are unable to attend

the polls in person becau se of physical

disability should vote by absentee ballot.

Section 34-1319 states the regulations

in force at the polling pl aces. Of course,

no elector shall be allowed to enter a

voting compartment or voting machine

booth already occupied by another, except

when rendering assistance as provided

for earlier. In other words, a husband

may not go into the booth and assist

his wife in voting or vice versa unless

the person receiving assistance is

entitled to same under Section 34-1317.

Section 34-1319Cb) states that "No

elector shall remain in a voting compart-

ment or voting machine booth an unreason-

able length of time, and if he shall

refuse to leave after such period, he

shall be removed by the poll officers.".

This provis ion constitu tes the po.ll

officers' authority to remove an elector

from the booth when he is stalling

around in order to slow the line down.

However, the better practice would be

for the poll officers to call on a law

enforcement officer to make this removal.

34-1319Ca) 34-1319Cb)

129.

MR. ROD GERS :

Section 34-1319(d) prohibits

(con tId)

campaigning by anyone, including candi-

dates, within the polling place itselL

This is a companion provision to Section

34-1307 whic h prohibits certain campaign

activities within 250 feet of the polling

place.

Section 34-1319(f) guarantees every

elector in line at seven o'clock the

opportunity of voting. In other words,

if there are still one thousand people

in line at seven o'clock, they are entitled

to vote. I suggest that the poll officers

place someone at the end of the line at

that time in order to prohibit other

electors from joining it.

Section 34-1320 explains the duties

of poll officers after the c los ing of

the polls in districts where ballots

are used. After the polls close the

poll officers are required to count

the ballot stubs, spoiled ballots and

unused ballots, and the number of electors

voting as shown by the numbered list of

voters, electors list and voter's certifi-

cates. The poll officers then en ter the

number of ballots cast as shown by the

34-1319(d) 34-1319(f) 34-1320

130.

MR. RODGERS: stubs, the number of spoiled ballots and

(cont'd)

the number of electors voting in

the space provided on the district return.

The poll officers then place these materials

in envelopes. The voter's certificates and

one copy of the checked electors list is

forwarded to the board of registrars.

The other copy of the electors list, one

copy of the numbered list of voters, the

ballot stubs and the unused, spoiled and

cancelled ballots are forwarded to the

clerk of the superior court. The original

of the numbered list of voters is forwarded

to the Secretary of State in case of an

election and the remain ing copy of th is

list is forwarded to the superintendent.

Also you should note that Section

34-1320 prohibits the counting of any

votes until after the polls close, which

under Section 34-1304 means seven 0' clock, until
and/the last elector has voted. In some

of the smaller precincts, everyone will

have voted by the middle of the afternoon,

and the poll officers in the past have gone

ahead and counted the votes. Under Sec-

tion 34-1320, the ballots cannot be

counted until after seven o'clock. The

reason an early count is prohibited is to

prevent the leaking of trends that are

131. MR. RODGERS: designed to influence electors who have (cont'd)
not voted. Section 34-1321 governs the count
and return of votes in paper ballot districts. You will note that Subsection (a) provides that the chief manager shall read aloud the names of the candidates appearing on each ballot together with the officer involved and that an assistant manager and clerks shall enter each vote as read on a sufficient number of tally sheets. In my opinion, this requirement as to the counting of votes is merely directory, and should be read in conjunction with Section 341308(c) (d) whic h indicates that a reassignment of duties may be made when appropriate to expedite the count. Furthermore, the cases generally hold that when a statutory provision prescribes a method of counting the votes, the provis ion is merely directory and not mandatory. Therefore, if you find that it would take an unreasonable length of time to count the votes in a district in accordance with the method prescribed in Section 34-1321(a), then I suggest that you adopt a more expeditious method.

34-1321(a)

132.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is it mandatory that the votes be tallied?

MR. RODGERS:

The Code provides that the votes

should be tallied. Two tally sheets

should be made and one should be filed

with the clerk of superior court and the

other should be filed with the superin ten-

dent.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

It has been our cus tom to have two separate teams count and then have another

team to double check. Two people had to

verify the count, the clerks were used

for this purpose. Is this okay?

MR. RODGERS:

If this has worked well, I see no

reason why it cannot be continued.

Section 34-1322 (a) provides

that any ballot marked so as to identify

the voter shall be void and not counted,

except a ballot marked challenged.

Subsection (b) states that, at elections,

any ballot marked by any other mark than

a cross or check mark in the spaces pro-

vided for that purpose shall be void

and not counted.

In vat ing an election ballot, a voter

has two simple rules to follow. First,

if he wants to vote a straight party

ticket, he merely places a cross mark

34-1322(a) 34-1322(b)

133. MR. RODGERS: in the square by the party name reserved (cont'd)
for voting a straight party ticket. Second, if he wants to vote a sp li tticket, then he merely places a cross mark in the square by the name of each candidate he desires to vote for and leaves the square next to the party name alone. If a voter votes a straight party ticket which contains a candidate for congressman and then places a cross next to the name of a candidate for congressman appearing in another column, then he has voted for two candidates for the same office and therefore both votes are rejected.
Section 34-1324 governs the signing and disposition of returns. One copy of these returns should go to the Secretary of State in the case of elections, one to the superintendent, one to the clerk of the superior court, and one to be posted outside of the polling place.
I bel ieve the remain ing provisions of Chapter 34-13 are self-explanatory and require no comment.
Chapter 34-14 concerns absentee voting. This Chapter is a great

34-1324

134.

MR. RODGERS: simplification over the old law because (cont'd)
it places civilian and military under

34-14

the s arne absentee ballot procedure and

places this procedure entirely under the

control of the registrars instead of

splitting it between the registrars and

the ordinary as the ciLd law did.

In order to be eligible to vote

absentee, an elector must be required

to be absent from the county of his

residence during the time of the primary

or election he desires to vote in, or

must be unable to be present at the polls

on the day of such primary or election

because of physical disability.

Under the old law, an elector

merely had to be absent from his district

in order to vote absentee, but the legis la-

ture thought this too loose and tightened

it up to require absence from the county.

Section 34-1402 states who may apply 34-1402(a)

for an absentee ballot. The application

for the absentee ballot may be made by

the voter himself or by a member of his

immediate family. The application cannot

be made earlier than ninety days prior

to the primary or election involved. This

135.

MR. RODGERS: is to prevent the accumulation of stale (cont'd)
applications in the registrars' office.

The latter part of Subsection (a)

defines the information required in the

applicati on. In the case of Democratic

and Republican primaries being held on

the same day, the applicant must specify

which primary he desires to vote in, other-

wise the application is too indefinite.

Subsection (c) makes special provi-

34-1402(c)

sion for a member of the military or other

person eligible to register to vote by

absentee process. It prov ides that if

such a person applies for an absentee

ballot and the registrars find that he

is not registered to vote, then they

mail him a blank registration card and,

if it is not past the voter registration

deadline for the primary or election

involved, they also mail him ?n absentee

ballot. If the registration card is

completed and returned prior to the

voter registration deadline and the

ballot is returned at or before the

polls close on the day of the primary

or election, then the ballot is cast.

136. MR. RODGERS: If an application for an absentee ballot (cont1d)
is received from an unregistered soldier too late for him to register to vote in the primary or election, then he should be mailed only a blank registration card with the advice that he is ineligible to vote in such primary or election because he has waited too late to register, but that he should complete the card so that he wi 11 be regis tered for subsequent primaries and elections. As I have s ta ted to you previous ly, members of
the military are under the same voter registration deadline as civilians.
Section 34-1403 requires that the county executive committee must supply the absentee ballots to the registrars in the case of a primary and that the ordinary mus t supply them to the regis trars in the case of an election. No stub or number strip should be prepared for an absentee ballot.
Section 34-1404 defines the three envelopes necessary for the forwarding and return of absentee ballots. The larger envelope is addressed to the applicant and carries the middle-size

34-611 34-625 34-1403
34-1404

137.

MR. RODGERS: and small envelopes, the ballot and the (cont'd)
instructions. The applicant, after

marking the ballot, seals it in the

small envelope and places it in the

middle- size enve lope addressed to the

registrars and seals it. He then exe-

cutes the affidavit on the back of this

envelope and the person before whom he

appears executes the jurat. The envelope

is then mailed or delivered to the regis-

trars.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Does the superintendent furnish these absentee ballots to the registrars?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, at pg.rty expense in the case of

primaries, and at county expense in the

case of elections.

Section 34-1405(a) requires the

registrars to mail out absentee ballots

as soon as practicable. Please note

that a ballot is not to be mailed to

an applicant at an address over 300

miles away if the application is

received within five days of the

primary or election. This is simply

because it is unlikely that the ballot

would be returned in time to be cast.

And of course no ballot is to be mailed

34-1405(a)

138. MR. RODGERS: on the day prior to a primary or election. (cont'd)
Subsection (b) requires that a list be maintained of those who have been forwarded absentee ballots. This list is of course subject to public inspection.
Section 34-1406(a) states that absentee ballots must be marked prior to the day of the primary or election involved. Subsections (a) and (c) also define the five categories of people that a voter must appear before in order to mark his absentee ballot. A significant change is evidenced by the fact that a notary public cannot acknowledge the marking of an absentee ballot except in the case of a voter who received his ballot on the ground of physical disability. Subsection (a) also permits the voting of an absentee ballot in the registrars' office before a registrar or deputy registrar. If, for instance, a person discovers a day or two before the election that he will be out of town on the day of the election, he may go to the registrars' office and vote an absentee ballot. Under the old

34-1405(b) 34-1406(a)

139.

MR. RODGERS: law he was out of luck if he discovered (con t'd)
that he was going to be out of town that

late.

Subsection (b) authorizes anyone in

34-1406(b)

the above five categories to mark the

ballot for the voter if he is unable to

do so because of physical disability or

illiteracy.

Section 34-1407(a) requires that

34-1407(a)

upon the return of the absentee ballots

they will be safely kept by the registrars

unopened until the close of the polls on

the day of the primary or election at

which time they will be delivered to the

poll officers of the county courthouse

dis trict. Please note that when an

absentee ballot is returned in the enve-

lope bearing the address of the registrars

wi th the affidavit and jurat on the back,

this envelope is not opened by the regis-

trars . Thi s envelope is on ly opened by

the poll officers. As a matter of administra-

tive convenience, I sugges t that the regis trars

examine the affidavits and jurats for

irregularities and if any are found to

make a list of them and deliver such list

to the poll officers along with the envelopes

140. MR. RODGERS: containing the ballots. One linportant (cont'd)
irregularity to check for is jurats executed by notary publics when the voters did not receive their ballots on the ground of physical disability.
Also please note that absentee ballots rece ived after the polls are closed are too late to be voted. The envelopes containing these ballots should not be opened and upon receiving them the registrars should file them with the clerk of the superior court.
Section 34-1407(b) states that "After the close of the polls on the day of the primary or election a registrar shall deliver the official absentee ballot of each elector to the managers in charge of the polling place of the election district containing the county courthouse." You don't send them to all districts, just to the one containing the county courthouse. The managers then examine the affidavit and jurat on each envelope and if it is in proper order, a manager announces the name of the elector and gives an opportunity for challenge to anyone present. Also

34-1407(a) 34-1407(b)

141.

MR. RODGERS: the managers must consider any challenge (cont'd)
which has been previously filed with them

in writing. Please note that this is

the only instance in which a challenge

is permitted at t he polls because under

Section 34-628 all other challenges must

be made before the board of registrars.

After an opportunity for challenging

is given, the manager then opens the

middle-s ize envelope being careful not

to tear the affidavit and jurat printed

thereon, and drops the ballot still

sealed in the small envelope in the

ballot box. If the absentee electors

right to vote has been challenged, then

the manager also opens the small envelope

and writes the challenge on the back of

the ballot being careful not to disclose

the markings on the f ace of the ballot.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What about the number on the ballot?

MR. RODGERS:

Absentee ballots do not have stubs

and number strips. Otherwise, the ballot

would be capable of identification.

QUESTION FROM TtIE FLOOR:

We have always had them printed with stubs and number strips and the

registrars kept the stubs. Is this okay?

34-628 34-1407(d)

142.

MR. RODGERS:

That would be okay if the registrars

removed the stub and number strip before

mailing the ballot.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

How do you get the name of the absentee voter on the official voter I s lis t?

MR. RODGERS:

The absentee voter's name already

appears on the electors list becaus e other-

wis e the reg is trars would not have mailed

him a baUot. At the time his ballot is

cast, his name is entered on the numbered

list of voters. He does not have to sign

34-1407(b)

a voter's certificate because his affidavit

appearing on the envelope takes the place

of the c ertif ic ate.

MR. FORTS ON :

The registrars keep an accurate

account of th is.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do you have to vote the absentee ballots in the district containing the

county courthouse?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

34-1407(b)

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

Can you tabulate the votes cast on absentee ballots on a voting machine?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, because the votes are not being

cast on the voting machine but are merely

being tabulated on it.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do absentee ballots have to be made up for each district?

143.

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, when there are variations in

candidates or questions between the

various districts of a county. The

absentee ballot you mail to an elector

should contain all of the candidates

and questions that he is entitled to vote

on.

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

If you don1t have the absentee ballots numbered and don1t have any numbers to go

by, how can you determine how many ballots

you sent out and then received?

MR. RODGERS:

You can set up any kind of numbering

system for absentee ballots so long as

no number appears on the ballot itself.

Section 34-1408 provides that when

an absentee voter dies prior to the

opening of the polls his ballot is not

counted. However, if he dies during the

time the polls are open, his b allot is

counted even though it is not cast until

after the polls are closed.

Section 3+-1409 provides for the can-

cellation of absentee ballots returned by

electors who are present within the county

during the primary or election in which

the ballot is to be cast. This of course

does not apply to a voter who obtained an

34-1403 34-1408
34-1409

144.
MR. RODGERS: absentee ballot on the ground of physical (con t' d)
disability. Section 34-1409 is aimed at

that group of voters who vote by absentee

ballot in order to avoid taking the time

to vote in person. I understand that

when suc h a person is asked why he is

in the county on election day when he

has voted by absentee ballot, he generally

replies that when he applied for and voted

an absentee ballot he thought he was going

to be out of the county but that afterwards

his plans changed. As you can see, Section

34-1409 is designed to knock out that

excuse.

Section 34-1410 places on the county

34-1410

the burden of purchasing postage for

absentee ballots even in the case of

primaries.

Section 34-1501 requires that the

34-1501

office of the superintendent remain open

during each primary and election and until

all the ballot boxes and returns have been

received in such office or at such other

place designated by him.

Section 34-1502 authorizes the public

34-1502

inspection of the return from each district

which is received in the superintendent's

145.

MR. RODGERS: office unsealed. As you know, one return (cont'd)
is received sealed up in the ballot boxes

and the other return is received unsealed.

Only the latter return is subject to public

inspection.

Section 34-1503 requires that the

34-1503

superintendent must conduct the county-

wide consolidation in a public place and

that he must give at least one week's prior

notice of such place in order that the

public will know its locatiGn. The super-

intendent may select such persons as he

desires to assist in the consolidation.

Under the old law, one manager from each

district had to assist in the consolidation.

Under Section 34-1503, the superintendent

can continue this practice if he wants to

or he may select other persons to assist

him.

Section 34-1504 requires that the

34-1504

county-wide consolidation must be begun

not later than noon on the day following

the primary or election and that of course

such consdidation must be performed in

public. The Section prescribes the

procedure for consolidation which I

believe is self-explanatory.

146.

MR. RODGERS:
(cont'd)

Section 34-1504(g) provides a procedure

for obtaining a recanvass of the votes cast

34-1504(g)

on voting machines by applying to the

superintendent prior to the completion

of the county-wide consolidation. This

procedure is separate and distinct from

the contest procedure authorized by Chapter

34-17, and in my opinion a person would not 34-17

have to exhaust the Section 34-1504(g)

procedure in order to be eligible to

pursue the remedy provided by Chapter

34-17.

Section 34-1505 governs the computa-

34-1505

tion of wri te -in votes. It provides that

write- in votes in elections s hall be

computed and certified exactly as such

names were written on the ballot. Some-

times there will be crazy names written

in. For instance, here in Fulton County,

there have been many write-in votes cast

for "Willie B" who is a monkey a t the

Grant Park Zoo. However, to be on the

safe side, I would tabulate the votes

for these names no matter how ridiculous

they may seem.

Section 34-1506(b) provides that

34-1506(b)

the returns in primaries shall be made

147. MR. RODGERS: according to party rules. The remaining (conttd)
provisions of this Section and cr the next
several Sections, I believe are selfexplanatory.
Section 34-1509 requires the certifica- 34-1509 tion of the results of referendum elections, which of course follows the old law in th is regard.
Section 34-1514 requires that everyone 34-1514 must receive a majority of the votes in order to win nom ination in a primary or public office in an election. If no one receives a majority, then a runoff must be held on the fourteenth day after the first election or primary, between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes. There is an exception to this rule in the case of candidates seeking party nomination for or election to the governing authority of a county during this year, 1964. Such candidates for the governing authority of a county are to be nominated in the manner prescribed by the rules of the county executive committee and are to be elected in accordance with the local act governing the authority. Therefore, if the local act permits a mere plurality for election that is suffic ient, and of

148.

MR. RODGERS: course if it requires a majority vote then (cont1d)
that is sufficient. This exception is stated

in the last sentence of Section 34-1514.

Section 34-1515 is a very important

34-1515

provision. It applies to a primary or

election which fails to fill a nomination

or office when such failure cannot be

cured by a runoff. For example, suppose

a candidate died on the day of a primary

or election and such candidate received

the largest number of votes. Obviously,

those votes could not be counted for any

other candidate and, therefore, such defect

could not be cured by a runoff. Consequently,

Section 34-1515 comes into play and requires

that such race be rerun in a special primary

or election. The officer with whom the candi-

date qualified would call the special primary

or election. This Section also applies in

the case of the death or withdrawal of an

officer-elect prior to his assumption of

office.

Section 34-1516 requires the delivery 34-1516

of the ballots and certain other documents

to the clerk of superior court for examina-

tion by the grand jury. Please note that one of the documents required for delivery

34-1302 34-1330

are the ballot stubs and, therefore, when

149.

MR. RODGERS: the voter's certificates are printed on (cont'd)
the stubs they must be detached therefrom

so that the certif icates may be filed with

the registrars and the stubs with the clerk.

Chapter 34-17 establishes a new

34-17

comprehensive contest procedure. There are

no more party contests in primaries. All

of these party contests have now been placed

under the jurisdiction of the courts.

Under the old law, recounts and

contes ts were handled ind ividually in

each county. Obviously, such a procedure

was cumbersome and inadequate in the case

of races involving two or more counties.

Chapter 34-17 merges recounts and contests

into one procedure called "con tes tIT and

places the entire procedure, no matter

how many counties are involved, under the

jurisdiction of a single superior court

which is defined in Section 34-1704.

34-1704

The idea is to give a single superior

court the power to fully and completely

34-1706

resolve all issues and to grant full

relief in a contest case, subject of

course to appellate review.

Please note that Section 34-1707

34-1707

requires that issues of fact which are

150. MR. RODGERS; submitted to a jury must be tried in (cont1d)
the county where such issue or a part thereof arose. However, this jury trial is pres ided over by the judge who is brought into the case under Section 341704(b) .
The recount remedy under the contest procedure is defined by Section 34-1705(b).
Chapter 34-19 prescribes a comprehensive set of penalties for violations of the Code. I believe most of these are self-explanatory.
Section 34-1913 states that any person who makes, constructs or has in his possession any counterfeit of an official ballot or ballot card, shall be guilty of a felony and then goes on to say that such penalty shall not be applied to a facsimile ballot printed and published as an aid to electors in any newspaper generally and regularly circulated within the State so long as such facsimile ballot is at least twenty-five per cent larger or smaller than the official ballot of wh ich it is a facs imile. Notice that Section 34-1913 does not prohibit the distribution of sample ballots outside

34-1705(b) 34-19 34-1913
34-1913

151.
MR. RODGERS: of newspapers so long as such samples cannot (con t' d)
be classified as "counterfeit" ballots.

Also, there is no prohibition against the

marking of these samples in order to

educate the electorate how to vote for

certain candidates.

Section 34-1937 makes it a crime

34-1937

to sell alcoholic beverages on primary

or election days. Please note that

this criminal offense applies to the

full twenty-four hour day and not to

just the period that the polls are open.

Chapter 34-20 sets forth the repeals.

34-2001

A great many of the old laws have been

specifically repealed, and all other

conflicting laws have been repealed

by the general repealer stated in Sec-

tion 34-2005. The intention of Chapter

34-2005

34-20 is to knock out the old law in its

entir-ety and to begin with a new slate

of election laws in the form of this Code.

I would like to take this opportunity

to thank each of you for your presence

here today. You have been a very gooCl

group. It has been a pleasure to be w~n:

wi th you and I am happy to he lp you on i=

in any way that I can. If we can evey'

help you, we will be glad to do so -

152.

MR. RODGERS: call on us anytime. We are no further (cont'd)
away than the telephone.

JIR. FORTSON:

We hope to see everybody here tomorrow

morn ing at ten 0' clock.

The meeting was then adjourned until the next

morning at ten o'clock.

The Seminar was continued at ten o'clock on the

morning of August 7, 1964, with the opening statement

by the Honorable Ben Fortson.

MR. FORTSON:

I am delighted to see so many here

on the second day of our Seminar. We

are going right into the work immediately.

I have asked my people to put microphones

over various parts of the room. Please

use these in stating your questions. Mr.

Cook has asked me to say that he will not

be ab le to be with us today, as he was

called out of town on an emergency I

was delighted that he was able to be with

us a 11 day yes terday I have had the

hardes t time keep ing up with him bef ore

and I do appreciate his being here and

I know that you do also. He is a busy

man and taking time out to be with us is

commendab le. I am glad that Paul Rodgers

is here. Melba Williams will probably be

here shortly. Mr. Perry couldn't be here

153.

MR. FORTSON: today either. (cont'd)
Now we are going to begin work. I

would suggest that we take first come,

first serve. We will try to move along

and give definite answers to your questions.

Who will ask the first question this morning?

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Our problem is one all over the State. We have, for years, held our elections in

the city courthouse. Now, we plan to use

the National Guard Armory. Under this

34-132l( a)

new law, we have one manager and two

assistant managers. In the counting of

the votes, the manager has to read out

the votes and they have to be tallied.

Can one of those managers delegate the

authority to somebody else to read the

ballots out so that the others can tally?

QUESTION:

Is the question, whether or not the

(Mr. Rodgers)

chief manager is the only one that can

34-132l(a)

count or callout the ballots?

QUESTION RESTATED
FROM THE FLOOR:

No, the question is can he delegate his authority to a clerk?

MR. ROD GERS :

I think that he can based upon the

language contained in Section 34-1308 (c)

34-1308(c) 34-1308(d)

(d). The proviso contained in Subsection

(c) states that "Provided, however, that

the chief manager may make other arrangements

154.

MR. RODGERS: for the division of the duties imposed Ccont1d)
by this Code, so long as each poll officer

is ass igned some specific duty to perform. IT

Subsection Cd) states that any poll officer

may be assigned by the chief manager to

assist another officer in the performance

of his duties, or to perform them for

him during his temporary absence or dis-

ability. The language is broad enough

to permit a different distribution of

duties. This is directory and not

mandatory. There has to be fraud or

some very substantial error before a

court will overturn the election. In

any event, a redistribution of duties

is authorized by Subsections Cc) and

Cd) .

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The Code specifically provides that when you are counting the votes that the

manager or, under your rul ing, one of

the persons delegated for that purpose,

has to take each ballot separately and

call the names out and they have to be

tallied by the clerks. In our county

for years we have separated the ballots

we were most interested in and put them

in a spearate pile, and then counted the

others. Under the law we cannot do that,

155.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

is that true?

MR. RODGERS:

Again, this is a directory provision.

It is ideal to follow the Code, but we

understand that in some cases it may not

be practical. If the tally or vote count

34-1321 (a)

varied somewhat from the procedure prescribed

in this provision, it would not cause any

serious harm. If it is impractical to do

it the prescribed way, then do it the

practical way.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The Code requires that the votes not be counted until after the close of the

polls. It says that you s hou ld stay there

until all the votes are counted. Does

this give any allowance for dinner or

anyth ing e ls e?

MR. RODGERS:

It was the intention that the votes

be counted at the polling place as quickly

34-1320 34-132lCa)

as possib le. I think it is impl ied that

you could take a recess for dinner. It

is the legislative intent that the vote

count be consummated that night. You

may have to bring in fresh managers and

clerks in order to finish the count that

night.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

One thing ambiguous about the law is as far as provid ing fac ili ties. Is it my

156.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

duty, as ordinary, to provide voting machines or booths for primaries? Is

it my duty to do this?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. The voting machines should be

obtained from the governing authority

34-705 34-708 34-1210

of your county and booths should be

furnished at county expense. The party

holding the primary should pay for the

ballot labels. You should prepare the

machines for voting and deliver them to

the polls. The ordinary is responsible

for the maintenance of the machines, setting

them up and picking them up and storing

them after the primary or election.

QUESTICN FROM THE FLOOR:

Can I delegate my authority to supervise the vot ing mach ines?

MR. RODGERS:

Well, you may turn the performance

34-103(d)

of your duties over to a cus todiam, who

has been selected by you. He can take

just about all of the burden from you by

handling the machines under your authority.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The law provides that no electors can get within six feet of the voting compart-

ments. If we have a series of booths,

twelve booths for instance, does that

mean that each booth should be six feet

apart or does it mean that one person

157.

QUESTION: (cont ld)

should keep the people away from them -would that suffice?

MR. RODGERS:

The six-foot distance is from the rail

to the machines or booths. The booths may

34-708(a)

be as close together as necessary or convenient.

The six-foot distance which separates the voting

compartments in the polling place from the un-

enclosed space gives a buffer area designed

to provide privacy and to protect the

machines and booths from tampering.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Would there be anything contrary to the spirit of the law in having a centrally

located place for our voting and only

appoint three managers and as many clerks

as we need?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, you can only appoint three managers 34-501

to manage a particular polling place. These

people are in charge, the chief and two

assistants. The three together run the

polling place and are in command of it.

You may employ as many clerks as needed.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR: (Stated by
County Attorney)

We are having considerable debate between the Democratic Committee and th e Ordinary in what we think is the spirit of the law in giving each voter an

34-1322

opportunity to have his vote counted.

If a ballot gets into a box with the

number strip still attached, would it be

QUESTION: (contfd)

158. the proper procedure to open the box and prepare your ballots for counting and

when .you discovered this ballot with the

number strip attached to have the workers

tear off the number strip and proceed with

the counting? Bear in mind now, that you

haven't started the actual counting of the

ballots, you are just preparing them for

counting. Would not that be a practical

approach to the thing in trying to count

every vote. There will probably be

innumerable ballots deposited with the

number strip attached.

(Stated by

Mr. Rodgers, he is not running for

the Ordinary)

office and he doesn't have to worry about

the votes. People are ready, willing

and able if you make any breach of the law

to bring them up against you. The law

specifically says that if there is a ballot

in the box with the number attached you

cannot count it. No matter what reasoning

is given to it, you cannot do it under the

law.

(Stated by a member of the Dem. Exe.
Comm. )

We tried to use the number strip on the ballot and stub and instruct the electors before placing ballots in the box

to come back to the table and detach the

34-1322

159.

(StEement number strip, then to fold the ballot

by member

of Dem.

properly and show it to a manager of the

Exe. Comm.)

(conttd)

precinct before depositing it into the

ballot box. We tried it in a primary on

March 17, an early county primary. We

had people backing up in a line to go

to the ballot box. There were still

errors and people still left the number

strip on the ballot. We cleared these

out and separated votes and detached the

numbers and then counted them.

MR. RODGERS:

The law is very clear in saying that

a ballot is void and cannot be counted if

it bears any identifying mark whatsoever.

If the poll officers, for instance, were

involved in buying votes, it would be

very easy for them to determine if they

were getting their moneyts worth, by

checking to see that the voters they were

paying were voting their ballots in the

way in which they were paid to do. There-

fore, ballots cannot be counted if they

contain any identifying marks on them.

As a practical matter, you will have

represent atives of candidates watching

the counting of the votes. They are

34-1322

160.

MR. RODGERS: certain to object depending of course on (cont'd)
whose ox is getting gored. Your suggestion

is in violation of the law -- it is very

dangerous to handle it that way. You

should assign a clerk to make sure all

the number strips are retached from the

ballots before beingreposited into the

ballot box by the voters.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Under th is new 1 aw, we have a step by step method of what we have to do.

Can we have the clerk to advise every

person to tear the number s trip off

and put it in the box?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR: (Directed
to Mr. Fortson)

Mr. Fortson, these forms of oath that the poll officers take when they come in, one thing that the law provides is that one copy be sent to the Secretary

of S tate and another to the clerk of the

superior court. It provides for two

copies, but no copies for the ordinary.

Are you going to send us enough copies

to include the ordinaries too?

MR. FORTSON:

We will send you the suggested

official forms. You can have them printed in whatever number you desire. However, I

might add that a dpublicate of the poll

34-1322
34-504 34-1324

161.

MR. FORTSON: officers' oaths are not sent to me. One (cont'd)
is filed wi th t he superintendent and the

other copy is filed with the clerk of

superior court.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

It is up to us to make up the forms except the ones you send?

MR. FORTSON:

Yes, you print them up in the quantity

you need.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

When you make up ballots, you can put the voter's certificate on the stub

of the ballot, can't you?

MR. FORTSON:

Yes, you can. However, some say

that it is better to have the certificates

printed separately because when you print

them on the stub it slows things down.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

How are we going to get the first list of registered voters compiled. I

live in a county where until last year

we had a 105% registered voters of

record according to our population of

voting age. The law says that by

January 1, 1965, we are going to have

to have a card on each voter. I under-

stand how the new ones will be done, but

how are we going to start from scratch

and make cards for the old ones? We have

a loose-leaf book like most local counties

and we have several names tha t are in there

34-1302 (c)

162.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

two or three times.

MR. RODGERS:

There are two or three listings of

the same name?

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

Yes, sir.

MR. ROD GERS :

It is the duty of the registrars

34-627

to weed out the duplicates on the list.

Do the best you can and eliminate as

many errors as you can.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

As to one vote every three years, for instance, wi 11 you note that on

the card?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, you should make a record of

34-620

every time a person votes. Th is record

should be kept in order to make it eas ier

to purge your lists.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Concern ing the identif ication badges in the primary and general election, what

should that have on it to comply with the

law?

MR. ROD GERS :

The name and office should be stated

34-510

on the badge. For example -- "John Doe -

Chief Manager - X District."

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

will a badge s hawing his name and the office, such as chief manager, be

sufficient, and perhaps the district?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, that will be all that is necessary.

163.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The law says you will have a general manager and two assistaris and as many clerks

as you need. Where we have thirteen militia

d istric ts in one county, do we have to have

three people to hold the election in each

district under this new law?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, under the law, you have three

managers and as many clerks as necessary

34-501 34-502

for each polling place.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Even if a district has only forty peop le in it?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. However, I would suggest that

34-703

in such a case, the ordinary consider a

consolidation.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Does not Section 34-503 exclude the JP1s from holding the general election?

MR. RODGERS:

If he is running to succeed himself,

34-503

he may not act as a poll officer.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The Code provides that no person except
shall vote/in the county of his residence.

~4-1310(c)

How will the registrars find out who lives

where?

MR. RODGERS:

If I were on the board of regis trars ,

34-627

I would not take any action to purge anyone

unless I was sure of his residence. If

they are just planning to be away temporarily,

then it1s okay for them to vote in the county.

164.

MR. RODGERS: You have to determine each one on its (cont I d)
own merits and that takes time. I would

always give the voter the benefit of the

doubt. Only challenge or purge a person's

name from the lis t when the evidence is

clear.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Under the Code as it now stands, the ordinary has a right to set up rules

and regulations and the Democratic Executive Committee has that right and,

34-40l(g) 34-902 (c)

therefore, would it be proper for the

Democratic Executive Committee and the

ordinary to set up rules that there

could be no soliciting of votes by

anyone around the courthouse or polling

places?

MR. ROD GERS :

Beyond the 250 feet?

34-1307

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

No, outside of that. Probably the practice in most counties, as it

is in ours, is for all people to hand

out cards more than 250 feet away from

the polling place.

MR. RODGERS:

That would probably be a risky

practice. The statutory standard of

34-1307

250 feet has been fixed. I do not believe

that you could alter this statutory standard

by your rule-making power. In fact, at one

165.

MR. RODGERS: time there was an express provision in (conttd)
the bill to permit the superintendent to

expand this 250 foot distance but it

was stricken.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Under our rule-making power, what discretion do we ffive in setting up rules?

MR. RODGERS:

It is hard to define all the areas

that the rule-making power could cover.

It covers everything that is germane
is to the Code and that/not in conflict

with any statute.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Only candidates themselves can come in and verbally solicit votes

within the 250 feet without any cards

or anything? Can they go into the voting

room? If we have fifty-seven candidates

in our county and all come at the same

time, can they go into the voting room

at the s arne time?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, they can come into the polling

places but not into the enclosed part

except when in the act of voting. Of

course, you can exclude some of them

if it becomes crowded. The poll officers

have the right to preserve order around

the polling place.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Isntt there a Federal law which requires that voter registration records

34-40l( g) 34-902(c)
34-1307
34-1319(d)

166.

QUESTION: Ccont'd)

be kept for a certain period of time?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. The Federal Election Records

Act, 42 U.S.C.A., Sec. 1974, requires

that voter regis tration records concern-

ing primaries and elections in which

candidates seek nanination for or elec-

tion to Federal office mus t be preserved

for a period of twenty-two months from

the day of the primary or election

irrvolved. This Act only applies to

vo ter registration records and does not

apply to ballots and other documents

which are delivered to the clerk of

superior court under Section 34-1516.

You should also note that this

twenty-two month requirement has been

bracketed by the two-year retention

requirement stated in Section 34-616

which app lies to voter registration

records.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do you have to s end the regis tration cards out to the polling places

so that the signatures appearing on

the voter's certificates can be

compared with the signatures appearing

on the registration cards?

MR. RODGERS:

No. The Code does not require

Federal Election Records Act
34-1516 34-616
34-608

167.

MR. RODGERS: this because of the chance that the cards (cont'd)
may be lost. Of course, the board of

registrars may send the cards out if it

desires. One solution to this problem

of loss would be for the board to have

applicants for registration to sign two

registration cards so that one could be

retained permanently in the off ice and

the other sent out to the polls on

primary and election days.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Would you please explain Section 34-203 to me -- it is somewhat confusing?

Does it mean that every injunction and

mandamus law suit must be tried by a

judge from another county?

MR.RODGERS:

I agree with you that the Section

is definitely confusing. This Section

was rewritten hurriedly in the House

of Representatives and when I pointed

out to the authors that it was confusing

they did not want to take the time to

straighten it out because they were

anxious to get the Code passed. You

know we were having problems with a

Federal court at about that time.

I will explain to you the deriva-

tion of Section 34-203 and maybe that

will help you understand what happened.

34-608 34-609
34-203

168.

MR. RODGERS:
(contI d)

When the Code left the Senate for

the House, the area covered by Section

34-203 was covered by Sections 34-203

and 34-204 of the Senate version.

Section 34-203 of the Senate

version authorized the State Election

Board to institute or to intervene in

any action in any State or Federal court

seeking mandamus, injunctive or other

relief involving the election laws of

this State.

Section 34-204 of the Senate version

defined the supersedure remedy to be

administered by the State Election Board

subject to judicial review. This superse-

dure remedy only applied in the case of

elections and worked something like this.

Whenever the Board, on th e bas is of

sworn information, believed that an elec-

tion in a county was not going to be held

honestly, it would issue a notice of

opportunity for hearing to the ordinary

of the county. If the ordinary wanted a

hearing, then a hearing was held and a

record was made. If the Board decided

that there was sufficient evidence to

warrant it taking over the conduct of the

169. MR. RODGERS: election in the county, then it would (cont1d)
issue an order superseding the ordinary. The ordinary had the right to appeal this order to the sup erior court of the county of his residence presided over by a judge from an adjoining judicial circuit.
Now when the Senate version got to the House, the House rewrote Chapter 34-2 and in so doing jammed Section 34203 and 34-204 into what is now Code Section 34-203. I will now review this Section.
Subsection (a) of Code Section 34-203 is clear except as to that part which authorizes the Board to seek relief for any "anticipatory breach" involving the primary and election laws. To my knowledge, the term "anticipatory breach" only has application in the field of contract law. However, what the authors meant by using this term was that the Board could obtain some kind of relief in anticipation of the superintendent or poll officers not performing their duties properly in a future primary or election. As to whether or not this is workable language, I leave to your judgment.

34-203(a)

170.

MR. RODGERS:

Subsection (b) of Code Section 34-

(cont' d)

203 is very confusing because it says that

34-203(b)

any petition seeking relief authorized under

Subsection (a), which covers a wide spectrum

of relief, must be filed in the superior court

of the residence of the superintendent, and

that this court shall be presided over by a

judge from an adjoining judicial circuit.

Obvious ly, this venue requiremen t is entirely

inappropriate in seeking relief in Federal

court which is authorized in Subsection (a),

and is entirely inappropriate in seeking

relief in State court against any party other

than a superintendent which is also authorized

in Subsection (a). This difficulty in language

is of course the result of combining provisions

of Sections 34-203 and 204 of the Senate ver-

sion of the bill into one section.

In any event, it seems clear that

Section 34-203 only applies to litigation

invo lving the S tate Election Board and does

not apply to litigation instituted by other

parties.

In construing Code Section 34-203

with Chapter 34-17 it seems clear that

34-17

actions for injunction, mandamus and

171.

MR. RODGERS: other relief involving the primary and (con tId)
election laws do not require a presiding

judge from another judicial circuit,

except when sue h rel ief is s ought by the

State Election Board under Section 34-

203(b).

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Section 34-605 provides that "No pers on, while serving as a registrar or

34-605

deputy registrar or within a period of

six months after so serving, shall be

eligible to any nomination or office

to be voted for at a primary or elec-

tion, provided, however, that this

ineligibility shall not apply to a tax

commissioner or tax collector . ". \,Je

have a person on the board of registrars

who qualified in May, before the passage

of the Code, and has already started to

campaign. Would he be disqualified, and

not be able to run? Should we refund his money?

MR. RODGERS:

That is a difficult question. This

prohibition was put in in the Senate.

There is a d if f icul ty in con s tru ing

34-605 with Section 34-104. The last sentence of 34-104 provides that "'l'he

34-605 34-104

provisions of this Code shall not affect

any act done, liability or penalty incurred,

right accrued or vested, or nomination made

172.

MR. RODGERS: prior to the taking effect of this Code " (cont1d)
I frankly don1t know the answer. I will

not answer that, because I think that it

will take a court to answer it. Unless

you feel strongly the other way, I wouldn1t

say anything to the candidate about it and

put the burden on his opponents.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Mr. Rodgers, we have a very old
courthouse and very 1 ittle room for the

polling place. If each candidate is

allowed a representative and spectators

are allowed to come in, we don!t have

enough room. Are we allowed by the law

to ask for a little more privacy?

MR. FORTSON:

The counting must be in public. The

law does not contemplate that you have to

have everybody and his brother there.

If you don I t have enough room for every-

one, use your own discretion and ask some

of them to leave.

As long as they are not in the way,

they are to be allowed to come in as long

as the room will hold them. So long as

you don't deny them the right to look in

and view the counting you will be okay.

QUESTION
ffiOMT~
FLOOR:

Do they have the right to examine the ballot itself?

MR. FORTSON:

They cannot come and take hold of the

34-1312

MR. FORTSON: ballots and examine them. (cont1d)

173.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is it legal to dispose of the ballots after the election?

MR. FORTSON:

You have to account for every ballo-t

even void ballots. Anyth ing else

that accompanies these ballots. These

have to be put in a safe place for keep-

ing.

MR. RODGERS:

The ballots are filed wi th the clerk

of the superior court for presentation

to the grand jury.

QUESTIOO FROM THE FLOOR:

We have a militia district voting problem. We had one of the members of

the C01.IDty executive committee move from

one militia district into the district

containing the courthouse. Is he still

a legal executive committeeman of the

militia district from which he moved?

Can he remain as chairman of the committee,

or would another have to be determined?

loR. RODGERS:

That is strictly a party matter.

That would be up to the party to determine.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We have been called on by the local high school to pro-vide sample ballots

remaining from former elections to be used

in some of the history classes for the

benefit of the students. May we use some

of these fo r th is purpos e?

34-1320 34-1321(b) 34-1516
34-902

174.

MR. RODGERS:

No, Section 34-1516 clearly states

34-1516

that they mus t be filed with the clerk

\.

of the superior court after each election.
-f'
The sample ballots printed in the newspapers 34-1913

would be fine for use in classrooms, but I

would not use official ballots for this

purpose.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

They are never asked for unti 1 after all of the final returns have been made and

the State and local authorities have already

received the returns.

MR. RODGERS:

The law is specific that the unused

ballots could not be used in that way be-

34-1516

cause they must be delivered immediately

to the office of the clerk of the superior

court for presentation to the grand jury.

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

Suppose in the primary no JP qualified with the Democratic Executive Committee. In

the General Election, in this particular

district, nobody gets the petition together

in the district and then no name would

appear on the ballot. There would be nobody

running for JP in the district?

MR. FDRTSCN:

You can always write-in in the General

Election.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

I have been informed by the judge of rr~ superior court that as chairman of the

Democratic Executive Committee I am to

17 5.

QUESTION:

hold the primary.

(cont'd)

(

MR. FORTS ON :

The superintendent shall be the

34-103(ac)

ordinary in the case of the general elec-

tion and in the case of a primary, the

superin tendent shall be the county Democratic

Executive Committee or its agent. If the

Democratic Executive Committee makes you

its agent, and you want to serve, then

you may.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What if I don't want to?

MR. RODGERS:

He cannot fo rce you to serve, however,

I assume you would like to cooperate with

him.

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

When these people come in to fill out the registration cards, how necessary

is it that we get the weight, height, color

of eyes and the s~cial security number?

MR. FORTSON:

You must get the information that

34-609

the Code provides for. You are allowed

to get as much information as necessary

to determine who the pers'on is. Those

things that allow you to determine and

differentiate between people -- that is

the information that is legal and should

be taken.

176.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We have a question about the counting of absentee ballots. We have a lot of

absentee ballots, and it has been the

policy in the past that after clos ing,

the registrars have been paid by the

Democratic County Executive Committee,

in the case of primaries, and the county,

in the case of elections, to count these

ballots to help them out. Is this legal?

MR. RODGERS:

No, not unless they are sworn in as

clerks. Even then, the counting should

be done at the polling place itself. It

should be done by poll cfficers under

public observation.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If the party chooses not to run a JP for any militia district in the primary,

could the JP qualify under Section 34-

lOOl(c)(v) and run in the general elec-

tion without the five per cent petition?

MR. RODGERS:

No, unless no candidate for militia

district office or county office or for

a House seat ran in a primary. If one

such candidate ran, it would knock out

exemption (v). Exemption (v) was derived

from a similar exemption contained in

Annotated Code Section 34-1904 of the old

law. This exemption was put in the law to

34-502 34-1312 34-1407
34-l001(c)

177.

MR. RODGERS: take care of a few counties in North (cont'd)
Georgia where no county primaries are

held.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

I am a representative of the Automatic Voting Machine Company. We have had several 34-1315(b)

questions which I would like answered

here today. As you know, when both

primaries are held together, both ballots

would be placed on the machine and the machines

would be adjusted by the poll officers so

that the voters can only vo~e by party

affiliation. Two counties have had objec-

tions to this. One county has requested

that we modify the machine to keep this

from being poss ible. Section 34-1315(b)

states that "At primaries, before an elector

is admitted to the voting machine, it shall

be adjusted by the poll officer in charge

thereof, so that such elector will only

be able to vote for the candidates of the

party in whose primary he is then participat-

ing." Shou ld we advise the counties to get

in touch with you and you advise them that

they must conform to this provision?

MR. FORTSON:

This Code places the responsibility

on the Secretary of State to approve the

34-1205

voting machines. If there is anything

178.

MR. FORTSON: wrong with the machine or modifications (cont'd)
made to the machine, it would be disapproved.

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, you are correct. The Legislature

intends and the Code clearly requires "that

the primaries of different parties are to be

conducted separately and that a person

must publicly disclose in which primary

he desires to participate in.

MR. FORTS ON :

If that were not true, you would have

in effect two general elections.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

I am the Ordinary of my county. I understand that I am to select and equip

the polling places with money appropriated

to me by the county commission. I am to

purchase everything necessary with the

exception of voting machines. How can I

do these things without money?

MR. RODGERS:

You will just have to tell them that

you cannot do these things without the

34-708(a)

necessary money. The governing authority

cannot expect you to perform your duties

without allotting you the necessary money

to purchase the equipment needed to hold

the primaries and elections. In Section

34-710 it is stated that "Notwiths tand ing

34-710

any other provision contained in this Code,

all expenditures and contracts for expenditures

179.

MR. RODGERS: by the Ordinary for polling places and (cont'd)
other election expenses, shall be subject

to budgetary control and approval of the

governing authority of the county."

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We don't even have enough of anything to be able to equip a polling place and

hold an election in the county. What

will we do if I don't get any money for

anything? There are too many polling

places in the county -- but these have

been there for 130 years and haven't been

abolished yet. As the Ordinary, I think

it is my duty to furn is h the peop le wi th

the proper polling places and equipment

in order that they might cast their ballots

in the manner contemplated by the Code.

Are there not means to set up regulations

for equipping these places? Can I force

the commission to give me the money?

MR. RODGERS:

You just have to do the best you can

with what you have.

MR. FORTSON:

I don't know what you will do. I

feel for you. I would think that you have

a political question as well as an administra-

tive duty. If the people in your county

want to vote, they have to have proper

equipment. You have to have help from your

own people in making the other officials act.

180.

MR.. FORTSON: You have a hard row of stumps. (cont'd)

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The commissioners say that I don't need any money. If we don't have the

proper places to hold the elections, what

will we do? There are old buildings with

no floor and no light nor heat nor anything

else. Under this law, I am suppose to

equip these places?

MR.. FORTSON:

Do the best you can. I think you have

got a legislative question to propose to

the people of your county.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

I am not running for re-election, you better bel ieve that, but as Ordinary

now, the law requires me to equip these

polling places for the people. The

Commissioner plainly told me that he

wouldn't approve any kind of budget for

me . Wha t am I go ing to do?

MR.. RODGERS:

Everybody has their problems, and

you really have a bi.g one. Jus t handle

it the best way that you can with what

you have.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

When you were explaining to the gentleman from the voting mach ine company

about the party affiliation, what about

the voter's certificate -- do you have to

put party affiliation on that?

34-40lCk) 34-710

181.

MR. RODGERS:

The voter has to indicate in the

34-1302

voter's certificate which primary he desires

to vote in.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Section 34-1102(c) states that '~he incumbency of a candidate seeking party

34-1102 (c)

nomination for the public office he then

holds shall be indicated on the ballots."

Does that include county officers as well

as others?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, every public office.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

"For sheriff to succeed Ralph Grimes ," should that be on the title slip on the

voting machines in Fulton County? Should

that information appear in accordance with

this Section?

MR. FORTSON:

Yes.

MR. RODGERS:

In the Democratic Primary, you should 34-1102(c)

indicate that Ralph Grimes will succeed

himself. In the Republican Primary, you will

have no incumbent.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

We will only have one ballot slip showing the title of office?

MR. FORTSON:

You are trying to really hold a general

election, not a primary. You are trying to
,
consolidate in the county the Republican

and Democratic part ies in the primaries.

They have to run on different tickets,

182.

MR. FORTSON: however, they may hold the primaries (cont'd)
together, just as close as they may

want to.

STATEMENT FROM THE FLOOR:

We are not trying to consolidate the parties, we are trying to hold a joint

primary.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could that incumbency be indicated by an as terisk and be indic ated at the

bottom?

MR. FORTS ON :

No, sir.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Please discuss voting assistance.

MR. ROD GERS :

Section 34-l3l7(b) divides those

eligible to render voting ass istance

into two classes -- any elector of the

district, except a poll officer, and

any close relative of the elector requir-

ing assistance. No person in either class

can assist more than ten such electors.

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

May the person assisting go behind the curtain in the booth?

]~. RODGERS:

Yes, if he is physically disabled

or illiterate and needs help.

QUESTION
FROM THE
FLOOR:

In order for him to be eligible, he must sign an oath that he needs assistance?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, a physically disabled elector

must take an oath as stated in Subsection

34-705(c) 34-l007(b) 34-1008 34-1102(c) 34-l3l7(b)
34-13l7(a)

183.

MR. RODGERS: (a) of Section 34-1317 which provides (cont'd)
that "Before an elector shall be permitted

to receive assistance, he shall take

an oath which shall be administered to

him alld placed in writing by a manager,

giving the reason why he requires ass istance.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is there a special oath form?

MR. RODGERS:

You may devis e your own form provided

it contains the required statements. The

Secretary of State will probably furnish

you a form to go by.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What I had in mind lS the voter's certificate. Could you have enough

space for the oath to appear on that?

MR. FORTSON:

Mrs. Melba Williams has a set of

forms which have been drawn up for DeKalb

34-1302 34-1317(a)

County. I'm sure that she will be glad

to let you see her forms. I think it

would be well to put the oath on the

voter's certificate itself, or you

could have it on a separate sheet

of paper.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Should your districts be established prior to the primary or el.ection?

IvLR. RODGERS:

The district lines cannot be changed

34-702

wi th in a period elf sixty days pI'Lor to a

184.

MR. RODGERS: general election or general primary, nOr (cont'd)
can they be changed on the day of a primary

or election.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Section 34-705 gives the Ordinary the right to select polling places. In

the smaller counties, some are trying to

consolidate districts. We have been

trying to do this for quite some time.

One problem I see is what to do with

the old district numbers. Do we renumber

them? What do we do?

MR. RODGERS:

Are you thinking about the

way the militia districts are numbered?

If you are, the militia districts will

not be changed or affected by the procedure

stated in Sections 34-702 and 34-703.

Whenever a change is made in the election

district lines, you are superimposing on

the county a new set of boundaries for

the convenience of the voters. You can

call these election districts by any

names you desire. The old militia

districts will remain the same when you

change the election dis tric ts in accordance

with Sections 34-702 and 34- 703.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Under Section 34-703 we can consolidate the precincts?

34-702 34-703

185.

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, but there isn't time to do that

for the general primary to be held in

September, but there is time for the

General Election.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

If he changes or consolidates his militia districts into one voting district,

with the JP election coming on, how can

you do that?

MR. RODGERS:

The ordinary could make the county

34-703

into a single election district. Of

course, he would still have to provide

separate ballots for each of the militia

districts in the county because of course

the merger of the election districts into

one would not affect the militia districts.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can you consolidate two militia districts into one vot ing prec mct?

MR. RODGERS:

No, but you can require the voters

residing in both militia districts to

vote at the same polling place. In other

words, you can draw the boundaries of an

election district to include both militia

districts.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

I notice that the Code states that no charge of more than one cent per name

may be made for the electors lists furnished

the peop le reques ting them. Does the governing

186.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

authority of the. county have the right to set a fee?

MR. RODGERS:

The registrars fix the fee at the

actual cost of reproducing the list, but

in no event to exceed the price 0 f one

cent per name.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

On the registration list in our county, it is hard to determine which

militia district the people live in.

Is it permissible to add on the voter's

certificate form a place for them to list

the militia district in which they reside?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes.

MR. FORTSON:

I think that would be advi sable.

34-623 34-1302(a)

At this time, there was discussion as to whether

the meeting would continue until everyone finished

asking questions or whether we would adjourn for

lunch and reconvene at 1:30 p.m. The motion was made,

seconded and carried that we adjourn for lunch and re-

convene at 1:30 p.m. to continue the question and answer

period.

Upon reconvening, Mr. Fortson made the following

announcemen t:

MR. FORTSON:

I would like to make an apology to

Leon Hay, the Chief Registrar of Fulton

County, for a great injustice done to him.

I promised him this morning that I would let

187. MR. FORTSON: r.;i.u\~ak~~;~L annOi\.ln,cem,~1,1.t to, YO'l),'1 and I (cont'd)
fail~d,,to qo lhis,tJ'li,{> mOrning., A .great many pfY(l,u <lid ~?:ti :r~tut'1:lfor~tJ1e,,me:e;ting
th~s a:fte+no~n,~ hu:c J:: wQu14 li,~e tc) give
Leon ,the opport1-1I1~t'Y Pf/ffi<,\-ld,n,g hisann0l.lnpe-,
men t" now Jf /1.e~till wi,.slL~s to do so. Leo.n.,
MR. LEON HAY: I would li~eto s,a;{tl1is .<;'lIld ,for. you who <3:re
gue.st;s,h~~r~in, R:u l ;t9I:;l. Q.oun,ty ,anP., ~l;l' Atlanta, we wa1;lt,to jsay. tha:1;:,."w,ee,x,j::eT,ld"to you a, very
cord;i,a1 y.\elcoIIle.He"a.rf-proudofour, ' county" a,r,tql w~aren,proud pf, our,.registr,a,tiott. This, meetjng ;t;;oday and ,~esteTcday, I, tl;JJnk y'OU wi Lt, flgre e, h{l~" R~en;yery" ,el:} l~gh tep.il'l g ,t{;'; all of, ;u,~ T,he.p,e,i h<jl.ve be~p. atl'Ot, <;>. ques tions
asked anSL flu 19t pf iii en$wers given. Some; qA us
think Wf-"haye JD rop lern,s and: no.) registrfl,J;'$ I offic;fj\).$.wi t,!:l0llt p~'9bl~IIls,but ane:t:' ,the s tatemen tpf,,1;:he r ltl?p:. froffi~ Gi~mer, County,;; I, am sure we,all,f:e~lth,at;weenot,.in baq.; shape.
Iy-ro'UJ,.d,Jike t9Dthr0W,,01lt to YaH for, your con~idera,ti,{;W9u,te,thil'lg,I have been
thinkip.g aP9'lltfor ,a, lO1;lgti,me. Inthe State 0;f"Geo:t:'gLa: W~j ,h~v~" an {)rgani:a a,ti{)l;l of C?m?j:;r,Q),+ep;;, to+;th~cta~:e -:- we h,a,ve an orga,ni~a;ti9Xl.p ,taxases.s;o;rcsandappraisers

MR. HAY: (cont'd)

188. and I don't know how many other organizations. There is an organization for the ordinaries. Since regis tration and voting has become such a real item and a major issue here in Georgia and so much consideration is being given to it from a State level, I think it would be mighty fine if all the registrars, deputy registrars and ordinaries would form an organization of our own throughout the S tate and have such meetings as this where we can get together once a year and discuss our problems. I am sure that we could be a lot of help to one another. I am sure that our Attorney General's off ice and our Secretary of State would be happy to meet with us and give us s orne more information like this that we have gotten for two days. This has been real enlightening and we have gotten answers to a lot of questions. I can get answers by calling, but most of you live a long way off and that is not too convenient. I am sure that I won't find it necessary to call nearly as often now since this meeting. I would like to see us here, since the registration in Georgia has been revised, form such an organization. We have a fine

189.

MR. HAY: (con t' d)

Code of Election Laws presented here which sometimes probably will be misunder-

stood by a lot of us at first. After we

get into it, it will be one of the greatest

steps Georgia has ever made in regard to

the regulation of registration in Georgia.

Thank you, Mr. Fortson.

MR. FORTSON:

Thank you, Leon. Now, who is the

first man to ask a question?

QUESTION
FROM THE FLOOR:

I would like to ask Mr. Rodgers this please. Our judge of superior

court has asked me to ask you this

ques tion. Why did they pu t in the new

Election Laws that the judge of the

superior court is required to stay in his

office on election day. What reason is

there for this? What could he do if

anything came up?

MR. RODGERS:

First, let me say that he does not

34-1306

have to stay in his office, he merely

has to be available. If he is at home,

I believe that would be sufficient because

he could be reached there by telephone.

The purpose of Section 34-1306 is to

make sure that at least one judge in each

judic ial circu it is avaiIab le to provide

prompt judicial relief when the need arises.

189 a.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Can you have places of registration other than the registrars' office? The

problem in our county is that we need

two places for regis tering people.

What does the new law say on it?

MR. RODGERS:

There is very little change actually

from the old law. You can set up addi-

34-610

tional voter regis.tration places in any

number. The only mandatory requirement

is that in the case of counties having

over 100, 000 in p.opulation they set up

additional voter registration places

during the six-.monthsperiod prior to

the voter registration deadline for a

general election. Otherwise, the establish-'

ment of these places is up to the chief

registrar In the smaller counties.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

This is allowed but not required?

MR. ROD GERS :

Yes, in the case of those counties

having less than 100,000 in population.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

In Section 34-617Ca), it says that "the registration officers shall submit

34-617Ca)

to him a paragraph of the Cons ti tution

of the S tate of Georgia or of the United

States and the applicants hall be required

to read it aloud and write it in th.e English

190.

QUESTION: (cont'd)

language." Do the registration officers choose the paragraph?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. The same paragraph may be used

or different ones of the same length. If

you use paragraphs of varying lengths,

then applicants will contend that you are

discriminating.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What we have done is to choose one paragraph and use that one for all. Is

that okay?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, but you should change it every

once in a while so as to prevent someone

from memorizing it and thereby pass the

test without really knowing how to read

and write.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

What should the cards of instruction contain?

MR. RODGERS:

The Code does not prescribe their

content, therefore, it is left up to the

discretion of the various superintendents.

You should make sure that the instructions

are comprehensive. I understand that the

Secretary of State may supply these forms.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Do you pas s t hes e ins truc t ion :.' ards out on the day of election or do yc_: post

them at the polling place?

MR. RODGERS:

The cards are posted in each p lling

place and if there are any extra theY may

34\0 34- ~ )0'
L< 9

191.

MR. RODGERS: be given to electors upon request. (cont'd)

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Could pictures be taken during the voting for use on local television?

MR. RODGERS:

I don I t see anything wrong with that

at all. In fact, it probably would be

beneficial in stimulating voter participa-

tion.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could a person defeated in the county primary be appointed by the Democratic

County Executive Committee as a substitute

nominee for a position on the school board?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, if the Committee wanted to do so.

That is strictly a party matter.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Could a person defeated in a county primary file a nomination petition to

have his name placed on the ballots to be

used in the General Election?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, but he wouldn't have but about

two days to do this in.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The new law prescribes duties in many cases and sometimes fixes compensa-

tion therefor and sometimes it does not.

There is no provis ion for compensating a

deputy registrar. Was it intended for

him to be compensated? If so, who would

fix his compensation?

MR. RODGERS:

Section 34-604 provides that the

34-1319
34-1003(b) 34-100l(b) 34-1010
34-604

192.

MR. RODGERS: registrars may appoint deputies if their (cont'd)
compensation has been first approved by

the governing authority of the county.

QUESTION FROM THE
FLOOR:

Do the board of registrars count the votes on the absentee ballots?

MR. FORTSON:

No, they handle the absentee

34-1407

ballots until the time the polls close,

then they are cast and later counted

by the poll officers.

MR. RODGERS:

That's right.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Is the instruction of the poll holders in primaries the duty of the superintendent

who is the Democratic County Executive

Committee?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, the ord:inary instructs poll

34-509

officers in elections and the County

Executive Committee or its agent instructs

them in primaries. The County Execu tive

Committee may appoint the ordinary as its

agent.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

Suppose a person moves out of a county and has not lived in the new

county for six months. Can he vote absentee

from his old county?

MR. RODGERS:

No, this is a violation of the law,

although it is done frequently. The place

34-602 34-632

of voting depends on your domicile and

193.

MR. RODGERS: your right to vote depends, among other (cont1d)
things, on six months residence within

the county. Technically, you have no

right to vote in the county of your old

residence because you no longer live

there nor have you the right to vote in

the county of your new residence until

you have lived there six months.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

He is not entitled to vote in either of the counties then?

:1'R. RODGERS:

Right.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

What about a service man?

}R. RODGERS:

The general rule is that he retains

34-632

his voting residence in the county where

he entered service from. If a person is

domiciled in Fulton County and is intending

to return there, he could devote a lifetime

to the service and still maintain his voting

residence in Fulton County.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

When a voter I s name E removed from the lis t, does the board of regis trars have

to notify him?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes. You should notify a voter of

any proposal to remove his name from the

34-620 34-627 34-628

list and give him an opportunity for hearing.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

194. Under this new Election Code, what are exactly the duties of the custodian

of voting machines?

MR. FORTSON:

The ordinary hires a man who takes

charge of the voting machines, keeps them

34-l03(d) 34-l209(b)

in good working condition, places them

in the polling places, returns and stores

them in safekeeping until their next time

for use; he also instructs in the use of

them for those who need instruction.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

The Secretary of State is to furnish an oath administered by the ordinary to

the voting machine custodians?

MR. FORTSON:

Melba says that I have got to furnish

34-l209(b)

you with an oath for the custodians. I

will get it to you as quickly as possible.

QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR:

How long prior to the elections and primaries must the machines be in their

places? Can they go to the polling places

on the day before the election or

primary?

MR. RODGERS:

Yes, however, they would have to

34-l2l0(a)

be locked up or there would have to be

someone there to guard them, because

there is a chance that someone might

tamper with them. Distributing the

machines on the morning of the election

or primary is the safest way it seems to me.

MR. FORTSON:

195. I would advise you to look at the

various forms which Mrs. Williams of

DeKalb County has here. I am not suggest-

ing them, but they would give you an idea

of how to set yours up. Mr. Hay has some

also.

Are there any more questions? If not,

I want to thank all of you for coming up

here for this Seminar. Frankly, I am more

than pleased at the attendance. Actually,

when we decided to try to discuss this law

I thought we might not have more than

fifteen or twenty. It was full yesterday,

and today so many stayed on. I pledge to

you, and I know that I speak for Mr. Perry

and Mrs. Williams, that the Election Board

will do everything we can to work with

you and help you. Our job is that, we

will try to do this for you. Calion me

and calion the Attorney General. Paul

Rodgers works for the Attorney General

and me, so call on Paul too. We will be

happy to help you in any way that we

possibly can. Thank you for being here

and I hope that we can get together from

time to time and discuss things like this.

I do want to thank Paul for the good job he did.

At this time the meeting was adjourned.

INDEX

GEORGIA ELECTION CODE PROVISIONS

Section or Chapter

Page No.

Section or Chapter

34-103(d)

156,194

34-503

34-103(e)

10

34-504

34-103(8)

11

34-508

34-103(u)

11

34-509

34-103(ac)

11,15,175

34-510

34-103(x)

10

34-602

34 -103( aa)

60

34-603

34-104

171

34-604

34-202(b)

13,69

34-605

34-203

167

34-608

34-203(a)

169

34-609

34-203(b)

170

34-610

34-30lCd)

101

34-611

34-401(d)

69

34-616

34-401(g)

16,164,165

34-617

34-40lCh)

16

34-617(a)

34-40lCj)

16

34-618

34-401(k)

16,180

34-619

34-403

16

34-619(a)

34-501 34-502

12,16,19,120, 157,163
19,21,120,163, 176

34-620 34-621 34-622

-i-

Page No. 17,21,56,163 160 22 192 162 22,192 23 23,191 23,171 166 166,175 24,189a 25,32,136 166 25 27,189a 25,30 31 32 33,162,193 34 35

l' DD; (cont'd)

S('ctjon or
_! h<J,ter

':!-C23

.: -(?4

-c ~l

>~,S

<-c.; 6

'- .- t,2,"7

- C; 8

'. -I >9(a) ,-(;>9(b) , -(,;q(c) ,-(:n(a) _ -C:\1 (b)
.-i,:n (c)
, .-( :\2
< -f,:,3
:' ~- (;\4

-.01 , -;. 02 , ,--'03 . ~ - 03 (a) : -703(b) :' ,-"/03(c) :; ~-'Il3(d)

INDEX (contI d)

Section or Chapter 34-1501 34-1502 34-1503 34-1504 34-1504(a) 34-1504(g) 34-1505 34-1506(b) 34-1509 34-1514 34-1515 34-1516
34-17

Page No. 12,144 12,144 12,145 145 12
~46
146 146 147 147 148 148,166,173, 174 149,146,170

Section or Chapter
34-1703 34-1704 34-1705(b) 34-1706 34-1707 34-19 34-1913 34-1929 34-1937 34-1938 34-2001 34-2005

Page No. 72 149 150 149 149 150 106,150,174 71 151 119 151 151

FEDERAL STATUTORY PROVISIONS

Title

Page No.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

27,28

Federal Election Records Act

166

Federal Voting Assistance Act

31

-v-