Nonpartisan Elections for County Governing Authorities

If this bill is passed, it will update part of the Code of Georgia about elections and primaries.

• Code of Georgia: These are the rules or laws for the state of Georgia that say what people in Georgia can and cannot do.

• Primaries: Elections where people vote for candidates to represent their political party in the final election.

This Bill:

• Gives the General Assembly the green light to create local laws for nonpartisan elections for county governing bodies.

• Updates the part of the Georgia Code about how nonpartisan elections are allowed and run.

  • Nonpartisan elections: When people run for office without any political party labels. This means when you vote, the ballot doesn't show which party (like Democrat or Republican) each candidate is in.

• Local areas can set up nonpartisan elections for county judge jobs, school boards, county leaders, and consolidated governments.

  • School Boards: a group of people chosen by the community to oversee the public schools in a specific area. They make important choices about how schools are run, to make sure students get a good education.

  • Consolidated Governments: when a city and the surrounding county combine into a one area.

  • A first nonpartisan election isn’t needed anymore for these jobs.

• Cancels any other laws that stop this one from working

Rules for nonpartisan elections in this bill will work with current rules.

Nonpartisan elections will happen with the general primary in even-numbered years (2026, 2028, 2030, etc).

• This is true for all nonpartisan elections for members of consolidated governments.

Nonpartisan elections for consolidated governments will be considered county elections, not city ones.

Nonpartisan elections for city jobs will happen on days outlined in the municipal charter.

• Municipal charter: The official rules that explain how a city or town is run.