CLAIM: “Georgia’s new anti-electoral law makes it a prison crime to drop grandma’s postal vote in a dropbox.”
THE FACTS: If you cast Grandma’s ballot, you will not end up behind bars in Georgia, although posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter falsely claim that it will. The electoral law SB 202, which came into force on March 25, contains an exception that allows people to cast ballot papers on behalf of their relatives. Social media posts making the false assertion referred to an excerpt from the law stating that any person “accepting a postal vote from a voter for delivery or return to the Board of Registrars will do so unless authorized under subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-. 385 will be guilty of a crime. However, this section of the Georgia Code also states that family members – including grandchildren and grandparents – can mail or deliver ballots for one another. The Code also allows a caregiver to cast a completed ballot on behalf of a disabled person or prison employee to cast a completed ballot on behalf of someone in custody.
– Seattle associate press writer Ali Swenson contributed this report