Georgia will be a key battleground in the November presidential election.
Before President Joe Biden’s win in 2020, a Democrat hadn’t won in the Peach State since Bill Clinton in 1992.
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This year, several new election laws are in effect that could impact the outcome. They are among the over 100 new laws that took effect in Georgia on Monday.
One of the new election laws involves voter eligibility and sets new standards for upholding challenges to whether a person can vote.
Voters can now be removed from the voter rolls for several reasons, including death, voting or registering to vote somewhere else, or if tax exemptions prove their primary home is not where they are voting.
Another change requires all poll workers to be U.S. citizens. Polling stations can also have fewer voting machines based on expected turnout, and poll watchers can have closer access to the vote-counting process.
Also, ballots will be watermarked before they’re scanned as part of new security measures. Once they’re scanned, the Secretary of State can post them online to show that the vote is secure.
Ballot images would not include any personal voter information.
A recent survey of Georgia’s 40 largest counties found more than 18,000 voters have been challenged since last year. Most of those challenges were rejected.
Election officials predict a surge in challenges under the new law.