Shrinking Georgia’s early voting period by four days was billed Tuesday as a cost-savings measure, but at least one voter group said the economy gained wasn’t worth the price in lost convenience. Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming, introduced House Bill 194 the day before, but it became public when it was given its first “reading” in the state House and assigned to a committee for consideration. He said it will simplify the various schedules individual counties have used for when early voting is available and makes Sunday voting mandatory in every county.
In last year’s election, a handful of mostly urban counties decided independently to open polls on Sunday. “It eliminates a lot of confusion and creates conformity,” he said.
The main reason for the bill, though, is because in small communities there just aren’t enough voters to keep the poll workers busy for three weeks.
“We hear from many, many counties and cities around the state about the costs of early voting because you have to have three poll workers there during polling hours, so it should be a substantial reduction in costs for many cities and counties,” he said.
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