Georgia § 21-2-267 - Polling places - Equipment; arrangement; storage.

§ 21-2-267. Polling places - Equipment; arrangement; storage.

The governing authority of each county and municipality shall provide and the superintendent shall cause all rooms used as polling places to be provided with suitable heat and light and, in precincts in which ballots are used, with a sufficient number of voting compartments or booths with proper supplies in which the electors may conveniently mark their ballots, with a curtain, screen, or door in the upper part of the front of each compartment or booth so that in the marking thereof they may be screened from the observation of others. A curtain, screen, or door shall not be required, however, for the self-contained units used as voting booths in which direct recording electronic (DRE) voting units or electronic ballot markers are located if such booths have been designed so as to ensure the privacy of the elector. When practicable, every polling place shall consist of a single room, every part of which is within the unobstructed view of those present therein and shall be furnished with a guardrail or barrier closing the inner portion of such room, which guardrail or barrier shall be so constructed and placed that only such persons as are inside such rail or barrier can approach within six feet of the ballot box and voting compartments, or booths, or voting machines, as the case may be. The ballot box and voting compartments or booths shall be so arranged in the voting room within the enclosed space as to be in full view of those persons in the room outside the guardrail or barrier. The voting machine or machines shall be placed in the voting rooms within the enclosed space so that, unless its construction shall otherwise require, the ballot labels on the face of the machine can be plainly seen by the poll officers when the machine is not occupied by an elector. In the case of direct recording electronic (DRE) voting units or electronic ballot markers, the devices shall be arranged in such a manner as to ensure the privacy of the elector while voting on such devices, to allow monitoring of the devices by the poll officers while the polls are open, and to permit the public to observe the voting without affecting the privacy of the electors as they vote. The superintendent, unless otherwise provided by law, may make such arrangements as he or she deems proper for the storage of election equipment in the various precincts of the county or municipality at such times of the year that it will not be used for election purposes and may fix reasonable compensation therefor. (Ga. L. 1922, p. 97, § 1; Code 1933, § 34-1902; Code 1933, § 34-708, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1004, § 14; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1512, § 5; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 999, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 517, § 25; Ga. L. 2005, p. 253, § 31/HB 244; Ga. L. 2019, p. 7, § 15/HB 316.) The 2019 amendment, effective April 2, 2019, in subsection (a), inserted "or electronic ballot markers" in the middle of the second sentence and near the middle of the last sentence, and substituted "devices" for "units" three times in the last sentence. Administrative Rules and Regulations. - Accessibility for elderly and disabled voters, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Election Code, Registration of Electors, § 183-1-6-.04.