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The True Citizen, Wednesday, February 24, 2021 — Page 7 A
® FOR THE RECORD
Omnibus elections bill to overhaul voting faces debate
BEAU EVANS
Capitol Beat News Service
An omnibus bill proposing
broad changes to Georgia’s
absentee and in-person voting
faced more debate in a state
House committee on Monday,
adding to a trove of other
elections-focused bills in the
state Senate.
The 59-page bill contains
roughly two dozen changes
including controversial propos
als boosting identification rules
for mail-in voters, requiring
absentee-ballot drop boxes to
be located inside polling places
and outlawing early voting on
Sundays.
Other changes outlined in
the bill include consolidat
ing precincts with long wait
times outside polling places,
banning people from offering
food or drinks to voters while
they wait in line and allowing
local officials to open and scan
absentee ballots a week before
Election Day.
Democratic lawmakers and
voting-rights groups have
skewered the bill, sponsored
by state Rep. Barry Fleming,
R-Harlem. Fleming chairs the
House Special Committee on
Election Integrity, which has
held three hearings on the
measure. It will likely face a
vote this week on whether to
advance to the full House.
Fleming and the bill’s back
ers argue the proposed changes
are needed to shore up con
fidence in the state’s election
system after the 2020 election
cycle drew claims of voter
fraud from former President
Donald Trump, who lost the
general election in Georgia to
President Joe Biden by 11,779
votes.
“There has been controversy
regarding our election system,”
Fleming said at an earlier hear
ing on Feb. 18. “I believe the
goal of our process here should
be an attempt to restore the
confidence of our public in our
elections system.”
Fleming’s wide-ranging bill
would also eliminate Georgia’s
“jungle primary” format for
special elections that place
candidates from all parties for
a vacant seat on the same bal
lot. It would scrap the kind of
free-for-all election that forced
former Republican U.S. Sen.
Kelly Foeffler into a losing
runoff with now-U.S. Sen.
Raphael Wamock last month.
Democrats have slammed
many aspects of the bill that
squeeze access to vote-by-mail
and early voting, particularly
the proposed ban on Sunday
hours during the three-week
early voting period. Those
restrictions could especially
impact Black and other minor
ity voters in Georgia who have
long faced hurdles to voter ac
cess, critics argue.
BURKE COUNTY JAIL BOOKINGS
FEB. 15-21
John Henry
Simpson, 63
Barnhart Drive,
Waynesboro
Probation violation-
felony; probation
violation-misde
meanor
Andrew Baylor
Sweat, 34
Ciaxton Road, Girard
BCSO, Feb 16
Battery-family vio
lence (1st offense)-
misdemeanor
Dylan James
Francis, 24
Greiner Circle Ext.,
Hephzibah
BCSO, Feb. 15
Simple battery-family
violence (2 counts)
Emil
Hiti, 36
SuperiorAve., Sl/lf,
Calgary, AB
GSP-Syi, Feb. 21
Speeding 90/55
MPH zone; reckless
driving
Alan Brent
Johnson, 40
Hadden Pond Road,
Waynesboro
BCSO, Feb. 15
Child support lockup
order (2 counts)
Trinity Rondasia
Lewis, 17
Sam Meade Road,
Waynesboro
BCSO, Feb. 21
Criminal trespass-
family violence
Joseph
Bennett, 50
East 7th St.,
Waynesboro
WPD, Feb. 21
Laying drag; reck
less driving; open
container of alcohol
in motor vehicle;
DUi-aicohoi less
safe
Bryant Keith
Ryals, 36
Berkshire Keep,
Covington
BCSO, Feb. 18
DUi-iess safe-
alcohol; failure to
maintain lane; open
container of alcohol
in motor vehicle
Terrance Tirricco
Adams, 37
Willie Davis Road,
Swainsboro
BCSO Feb. 19
Battery-family vio
lence (1st offense)-
misdemeanor;
cruelty to children
in the 3rd degree-
family violence
Jockelle Laymoine
Gaines, 21
Barrett Mill Road,
Waynesboro
BCSO, Feb. 17
Probation violation-
misdemeanor (2
counts)
Trisdon Dijon
Manson, 29
Grubbs St.,
Waynesboro
WPD, Feb. 19
Violation of a family
violence order
Andrew Joe
Farmer, 59
Washington Drive,
Waynesboro
WPD, Feb. 19
Probation violation
for fingerprintable
charge-misdemean
or
L1J
Joshua Earl
Jackson, 33
Peach Orchard
Road, Augusta
BCSO, Feb. 18
Maricopa County
Justice Court
misdemeanor
sentence; DU!
Joseph Brandon
Grubbs, 45
Scotland Road,
Dublin
BCSO, Feb. 15
Probation violation-
felony
Alex
Domingo, 30
Hometract Road,
Waynesboro
BCSO, Feb. 18
Open container of
alcohol in motor
vehicle; driving
under the influence
of alcohol-con
centration is 0.08
g or more within
3 hours or more;
safekeeping for U. S.
ICE (Atlanta); alien
arrest warrant
AGENCIES
BCSO: Burke County Sheriff’s Office;
WPD: Waynesboro Police Department;
GSP: Georgia State Patrol;
MPD: Midville Police Department;
SPD: Sardis Police Department;
DOC: Department of Corrections
DNR: Department of Natural Resources
DISCLAIMER NOTICE: ALL ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW
1022 N. Liberty St., Waynesboro - 706-551-0876
State Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-
Columbus, who is the General
Assembly’s longest-serving
member, called that change too
restrictive.
“When you lift the water,
all boats rise,” Smyre said
an earlier hearing last week.
“You give everyone the same
opportunity.”
Georgia Democrats have
also challenged proposals that
would overhaul the state’s
voter ID laws for requesting
and casting mail-in ballots,
which currently are verified by
matching a voter’s signature on
absentee ballot envelopes with
that kept in the state’s registra
tion system.
The voter ID proposal in
Fleming’s bill mirrors a mea
sure moving separately in the
state Senate that would require
absentee voters to provide the
number of their driver’s li
cense or official state ID card,
or photocopies of a passport,
employee ID card, utility bill
or bank statement.
The Senate’s absentee voter
ID measure, sponsored by state
Sen. Farry Walker III, R-Perry,
is among several bills set for a
floor vote on Tuesday that have
backing from Ft. Gov. Geoff
Duncan, who presides over the
chamber.
That measure, along with
Fleming’s proposed bans on
Sunday voting and handing
out food and drinks to voters
in line, have drawn the ire of
voting-rights groups like Fair
Fight, which was founded by
former gubernatorial candidate
and Democratic rising star Sta
cey Abrams.
“[Fleming’s bill] is a bad-
faith attempt to limit democ
racy in our state,” the group
said in a statement Monday.
“Georgians deserve elected
officials who protect our con
stitutional rights first and fore
most - not their own power
above all else.”
Members of the state Senate
Ethics Committee cleared bills
in a hearing late Monday to
empanel grand juries for inves
tigating elections issues,count
ballots as soon as polls close on
Election Day and set rules for
allowing mobile voting buses.
Those measures advanced to
the Senate floor.
Republican state leaders
still stinging from the loss in
Georgia of the presidency and
both of the state’s U.S. Sen
ate seats have focused on the
elections proposals as among
the key actions they hope to
accomplish during the current
legislative session, dismissing
accusations from Democrats of
voter suppression.
Fawmakers should focus
on revising laws and policies
with absentee voter ID rules,
access for poll watchers to
observe ballot counting, clean
ing up voter registration rolls
and auditing the state’s voting
machines, said Brad Carver, an
Atlanta attorney who led the
drafting of a report on the 2020
elections issued this month by
the Georgia Republican Party.
“We need to have a system
where every legal vote counts
in this state,” Carver, who
chairs the state Republican
Party’s 11th congressional
district chapter in north metro
Atlanta, said Monday. “At the
end of the day, we’re hearing
from our voters who have lost
confidence.”
Reaction to Fleming’s bill
from state and local elections
officials has been mixed. Ja-
nine Eveler, director of the
Cobb County Board of Elec
tions and Registration, told
lawmakers last week she sup
ports tighter voter ID rules but
would not like to keep absen
tee drop boxes inside polling
places.
Deb Cox, elections super
visor for Fowndes County,
agreed many of the proposals
like more voter ID rules would
help local officials run elec
tions, while other parts of the
bill like a deadline of 11 days
before Election Day for vot
ers to request absentee ballots
might dampen voter access.
“I think the bill itself meets
the happy medium between the
extremes of voter access and
security,” Cox said.
Fleming did not indicate
when he would call for a vote
on his bill but said another
committee hearing is scheduled
for Tuesday afternoon.
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BURKE EMA REPORT
The Burke County Emergency Management Agency an
swered 96 patients’ calls during the week ending Feb. 21.
Of those, 66 resulted in transports, including 38 to Augusta
hospitals and one to another out-of-county hospital. Thirty
seven of the transports were determined to be emergencies
and 29 were non-emergent.
The agency also responded to 15 hre calls during the week.
They included one brush/grass hre, one structure hre, one
unauthorized burning, one outside waste/trash/dumpster hre,
six rescues, one smoke scare, two public service calls and two
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