It could soon be a felony for county officials to accept outside money to run local elections

ATLANTA — A bill that would make it a felony for county elections officials to accept any outside money to help their offices run elections is undergoing a review by the governor’s office.

If Gov. Brian Kemp signs it into law, those accepting outside money could be punishable by a year in jail and get a $10,000 fine.

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The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 22 on the final day of the session. State Sen. Ed Setzler, an Acworth republican, argued that outside money could have undue influence on Georgia elections.

“This is a fair measure,” Setzler argued. “Those that oppose it are simply trying to engineer an outcome by private entities trying to tip the scales from one side to the other.”

Critics insist this bill was born from the persistent belief by some that there was massive voter fraud in Georgia in 2020, despite multiple federal and state investigations proving there wasn’t any.

State Sen. Elena Parent, an Atlanta Democrat, argued the bill unfairly targeted metro counties like Fulton.

“It just smells bad,” Parent argued. “It really looks like what you’re trying to do is make elections more difficult to conduct in large, urban, dare I say, Democratic counties.”

DeKalb County announced it was accepting a $2 million grant from a non-profit tied to Facebook found Jeff Zuckerberg. Under this bill, DeKalb would be allowed to keep that money.

Cobb County Elections Supervisor Janine Eveler said they took a one-time grant during the pandemic to help purchase items they needed to help get them through that difficult year, but added, they haven’t applied for or accepted any other grant money because she realizes what a political hot potato it’s become.

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Eveler does point out that elections are getting more expensive and that outside money can help. She also insisted the group that gave Cobb the grant did not try and influence anything It, Eveler said, only wanted to make sure the money was used in the way the county said it was to be used.

“There was no influence from any political point of view, or any financial point of view,” Eveler said.

The bill is now undergoing a legal review by the governor’s office before he decides if he will sign it into law.

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