Does Georgia's new voting law make it a 'jail-time crime to drop off grandma's absentee ballot'?
Although under the new Georgia voter law it is a felony to take an absentee ballot from a voter and deliver or return it, the law carves out various exceptions. Those exceptions include family members such as grandchildren.
The law makes it a felony for anyone to knowingly accept "an absentee ballot from an elector for delivery or return to the board of registrars except as authorized by subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-385."
It's that subsection that lists exceptions on delivering absentee ballots for "the elector's mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or an individual residing in the household of such elector."
Caregivers for disabled voters and employees of jails and detention facilities can mail or deliver ballots on behalf of disabled persons or inmates.