Early voting starts today and runs until 11/2, the Friday before election day. There are five locations--in Tucker, Stonecrest, Dunwoody, South DeKalb, and the main elections office on Memorial Drive--that will have daily voting as well as voting on two Saturdays and one Sunday. Five additional locations will be added the last week.
Full information about early voting locations and times can be found here.
Absentee ballots are still available the application can be found here.
Voter Guide: Amendments and Referenda
People have a lot of questions about the constitutional amendments and referendums on the ballot this November. We’ve studied the relevant issues about each one. We provide the following in an attempt to briefly describe each amendment and referendum. Where appropriate, we also provide our position on the issues.
Amendment 1. Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment
Ballot text: Creates the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and parks.
Without increasing the current state sales tax rate, shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to conserve lands that protect drinking water sources and the water quality of rivers, lakes, and streams; to protect and conserve forests, fish, wildlife habitats, and state and local parks; and to provide opportunities for our children and families to play and enjoy the outdoors, by dedicating, subject to full public disclosure, up to 80 percent of the existing sales tax collected by sporting goods stores to such purposes without increasing the current state sales tax rate?
This amendment would direct some of the sales taxes already being paid on outdoor sporting goods to a dedicated fund used for acquiring parks, building trails, improving access to wildlife management areas, and protecting lands critical to clean drinking water. This amendment does not raise taxes but dedicates them to a specific purpose. This amendment will direct about $20 million annually in revenue to the specified conservation purposes.
This amendment was supported by The Conservation Fund, The Georgia Conservancy, Georgia Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Park Pride, and the Trust for Public Land. Information from amendment supporters: https://www.georgiaoutdoorstewardship.org/faq/
VOTE YES.
Amendment 2. State Business Court Ballot text: Creates a state-wide business court to lower costs, enhance efficiency, and promote predictable judicial outcomes.
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create a state-wide business court, authorize superior court business court divisions, and allow for the appointment process for statewide business court judges in order to lower costs, improve the efficiency of all courts, and promote predictability of judicial outcomes in certain complex business disputes for the benefit of all citizens of this state?
In March of 2017, Governor Deal established the Court Reform Council to study the current practices of the state’s judicial system and make recommendations as to how to make the system more efficient. One of the Council’s recommendations was establishing a state business court.
This amendment would allow certain kinds of complex business cases to be removed from Superior or State Court to a special state-wide business court. A supporting group, Georgians for Lawsuit Reform, has stated that they have a lack of confidence in Georgia civil courts and that the state needs to ensure that judges deciding complex business cases have the proper expertise and to help cases get resolved more quickly. Business courts have been established in many states and declared a success. More information from supporters: http://www.galawsuitreform.com/
The judges on the business court would be appointed, not elected, which has been the primary point of controversy. Bill Clark, director of political affairs at the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, stated that while he supports the creation of a business court, he does not believe judges should be appointed.
Voter should decide how to vote on this amendment based on how important the issue is of elected vs. appointed judges.
No endorsement.
Amendment 3. Forest Land Conservation and Timberland Properties Amendment Ballot text: Encourages the conservation, sustainability, and longevity of Georgia's working forests through tax subclassification and grants.
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to revise provisions related to the subclassification for tax purposes of and the prescribed methodology for establishing the value of forest land conservation use property and related assistance grants, to provide that assistance grants related to forest land conservation use property may be increased by general law for a five-year period and that up to 5 percent of assistance grants may be deducted and retained by the state revenue commissioner to provide for certain state administrative costs, and to provide for the subclassification of qualified timberland property for ad valorem taxation purposes?
Owners of forestland in Georgia, both non-industrial and corporate, get property tax breaks on their land if they sign covenants agreeing to keep their land in forestry. The Georgia Forestry Association, which supports Amendment 3, states that the favorable tax treatment is one of the reasons Georgia has more timberland now than it did 50 years ago. Nearly 80% of the States forestland is enrolled in the tax reduction program. As part of this program, the state would provide “assistance grants” to local governments to help offset the lost property tax revenue.
The amendment will change the assessment process and allow the State Department of Revenue to establish the value of the land so that the valuation of forestland is more uniform across the state. The aim is to make both the tax breaks and the assistant grants to local governments be more consistent. The Georgia Department of Revenue would deduct and retain 3% of the value of the local assistance grants to cover the costs of administering the program.
Amendment 4. Victim Impact Statements Ballot text: Provides right for victims of crime in the judicial process.
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide certain rights to victims against whom a crime has allegedly been perpetrated and allow victims to asset such rights?
This proposal would enshrine the right to give ‘victim impact statements’ during all parts of the legal process, including sentencing and parole hearings. This amendment gives crime victims the right to know when a crime victim has been released or when hearings will be held. Supporters believe that this amendment ensures that victims have a voice in the criminal prosecution process.
This amendment is supported by a national organization called ‘Marsy’s Law for All’, which has worked to pass template victim rights legislation in several states. Opponents to Marsy’s Law, which include the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have concerns that ‘victim’s rights’ laws infringe upon the Constitutional rights of accused and may increase the incidence of wrongful convictions.
The victim’s rights provisions are already in effect in Georgia as part of Georgia’s Crime Victims Bill of Rights. The only change from enshrining the existing law as a constitutional amendment is it will make the law harder to change and adjust in the future.
Vote NO.
Amendment 5. School sales taxes Ballot text: Authorizes a school district or group of school districts within a county to call for a sales and use tax referendum.
Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize referendum for a sales and use tax for education by a county school district or an independent school district or districts within the county have a majority of the students enrolled within the county and to provide that the proceeds are distributed on a per student basis among all the school systems unless an agreement is reached among such school systems for a different distribution?
Under current law, large school systems in any county which also includes a smaller city system (such as DeKalb, with the City of Decatur School System) cannot pass a school-funding sales tax increase without the consent of smaller city systems that are within the county. Smaller city systems can delay sales tax referendums in order to negotiate larger or disproportionate amounts of funding. Under Amendment 5, the larger school system would still be required to distribute funds to small systems on an equitable, per-student basis. This amendment would still allow school systems to come to agreements that address their specific needs.
Proponents say that the amendment makes it easier for local school systems to put initiatives on the ballot to fund school improvements. Opponents believe that it may decrease the power of smaller systems; however, they will still get funding from any sales tax increases even if they do not come to an agreement with the larger system.
Vote YES.
Referendum A Ballot text: Provides for a homestead exemption for residents of certain municipal corporations.
Do you approve of a new homestead exemption in a municipal corporation that is located in more than one county that levies a sales tax for the purposes of a metropolitan area system of public transportation, and that has within its boundaries an independent school system, from ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of the difference between the current year assessed value of a home and the adjusted base year value, provided that the lowest base year value will be adjusted yearly by 2.6%?
This amendment is written to only apply to the City of Atlanta. The Atlanta legislative delegation could not agree on this exemption, and so it was taken out of local hands and put onto the ballot as a state-wide referendum.
Local property tax issues should be solved by local representation, not by a state-wide referendum. Hopefully, the local delegation from the City of Atlanta will be able to develop a compromise approach to homestead tax exemptions. Until they do, the rest of the state should not be making decisions for them.
Vote NO.
Referendum B Ballot text: Provides a tax exemption for certain homes for the mentally disabled.
Shall the Act be approved which provides an exemption from ad valorem taxes on nonprofit homes for the mentally disabled if they include business corporations in the ownership structure for financing purposes?
This amendment clarifies an existing tax break for non-profit homes that serve the mentally disabled to ensure that the owners can retain their tax exemption if they receive financing from a business in order to engage in new construction or renovate. The measure received near-unanimous support in the Georgia legislature.
Vote YES.
DeKalb Referendum: Sunday alcohol sales
Shall the governing authority of Unincorporated DeKalb County be authorized to permit and regulate Sunday sale of distilled spirits or alcoholic beverages for beverage purposes by the drink from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Local restaurants are barred by law from serving alcohol during brunch before 12:30 p.m. Many local restaurant owners believe that this has a significant impact on their prime brunch hours.
