Home > 1.1.2 Voters' registration and registers > GEORGIA - Joint Opinion on the Election Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 33
 

Article 9, paragraphs 7 – 10 establishes the procedures for a voter to apply to make changes to the voters’ list. However, the procedure is not sufficiently clear. For instance, paragraphs 7 and 8 provide that “in case of any inaccuracy [in the voters’ list]” the voter may “request changes in the data of voters and in the voters lists no later than 16 days prior to the election day” and “the election administration reviews the list of voters.” Although the DECs are the apparent bodies to which such applications are to be submitted (paragraph 8), the provision does not expressly state so. Also, a shortcoming of the procedure is that paragraph 10 provides that the voter may appeal the DEC decision to court “within a day after its issuance.” Due process of law standards require that the deadline for filing an appeal start from the time of notification in writing (not issuance) of a decision. This would ensure that the right to appeal is not lost by a delay in delivering the decision to the applicant. It is thus recommended that the procedure in Article 9 for submitting an application to change data in the voters’ list, or to include or delete an entry in the voters’ list, be clarified and amended as set out above.