Bill Text: GA HB1114 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Poll officers; Student Teen Election Participant program; provide
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-09 - House Second Readers [HB1114 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-HB1114-Introduced.html
10 LC
35 1383
House
Bill 1114
By:
Representative Smith of the
113th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 4 of Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to poll officers, so as to provide for the Student
Teen Election Participant program; to provide for related matters; to provide an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Part
4 of Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to poll officers, is amended by revising Code Section
21-2-92, relating to qualification of poll officers and service during municipal
election or primary, as follows:
"21-2-92.
(a)
Poll officers appointed pursuant to Code Sections 21-2-90 and 21-2-91 shall be
judicious, intelligent, and upright citizens of the United States, residents of
the county in which they are appointed or, in the case of municipal elections,
residents of the municipality in which the election is to be held or of the
county in which that municipality is located, 16 years of age or over, and shall
be able to read, write, and speak the English language. No poll officer shall
be eligible for any nomination for public office or to be voted for at a primary
or election at which the poll officer shall serve. No person who is otherwise
holding public office, other than a political party office, shall be eligible to
be appointed as or to serve as a poll officer. A parent, spouse, child,
brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law,
brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of a candidate shall not be eligible to serve
as a poll officer in any precinct in which such candidate's name appears on the
ballot in any primary or election.
(b)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, in the
event that a municipal primary or election is held in conjunction with a regular
county, state, or federal election, poll officers assigned by the county
election superintendent to conduct such county, state, or federal election shall
also be authorized to serve as poll officers to conduct such municipal election
or primary and shall not be required to be residents of said
municipality.
(c)
Each local board of education and election superintendent shall be authorized to
develop and implement through a coordinated effort a Student Teen Election
Participant (STEP) program. The STEP program shall permit full-time public,
private, and home schooled high school students to volunteer to work as poll
officers during any primary, special, or general election day. In addition to
the qualifications set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section, a student
participating in the STEP program shall:
(1)
Be a United States citizen;
(2)
Have a Georgia driver's license or Georgia state issued identification
card;
(3)
Have demonstrated age-appropriate academic ability for the previous school year;
and
(4)
Have a history of responsible school and community behavior.
A
student participating in the STEP program shall at all times while working at an
election's poll remain under the supervision of an adult poll officer or manager
who is 21 years of age or older. No student shall be permitted to participate
in the STEP program without the written authorization of his or her parent or
legal guardian and such other documentation as may be required by the local
board of education or election superintendent. A student in the STEP program
shall work a minimum of four but not more than six hours during a single
election day and shall receive age-appropriate training for serving as a poll
officer. A student who successfully participates in the STEP program shall be
counted as present and given full credit for the school day during which he or
she served in the STEP program. No student shall be permitted to be absent from
school or participate in the STEP program for more than two school days. The
election superintendent and local board of education shall adopt mutually agreed
upon rules, regulations, and policies prior to the initiation of a STEP
program."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.