On February 22, the Georgia Senate Ethics Committee defeated SB 377, which would have required petition circulators to sign under penalty of perjury that everyone who signed the petition showed government-photo ID. The committee vote was not recorded, but it seems the vote was 3-6. The three State Senators who voted for SB 377 are John Albers, William Ligon, and Buddy Carter.

This bill was defeated because five individuals showed up to oppose the bill. They are Garland Favorito of the Constitution Party, former independent candidate Faye Coffield, former independent candidate Ray Boyd, John Fortune, and Yasha Heidari, who was once attorney for the Georgia Ethics Commission. The bill was also defeated because many other individuals phoned Senators on the Committee, or sent e-mail, and asked them to oppose the bill.

One of the main points made by the witnesses was that if the bill’s author thinks petition forgery is a problem, the state should abolish mandatory ballot access petitions and rely on filing fees, as Florida as done. Under current law, petitioning candidates must pay very large filing fees (3% of the annual salary of the office); there is no real need to require any petitions. Thanks to Garland Favorito for this news.