Pizza delivery while voting? Here is what’s allowed at the polls in Georgia.
If you think you will be standing in a polling line, listening to your stomach growling during Tuesday’s election, we have good news for you.
Nancy Boren, director of elections and registration in Columbus, said there’s no rule that says you can’t bring a snack or even order a pizza. She had additional advice for those who are scheduled to work Tuesday.
If work keeps you from voting on company time or forces you to use lunch breaks to cast a vote, get ahead of the problem by notifying your employer of your plans to vote as soon as possible.
“While there is no specific provision concerning eating while waiting in line, OCGA 21-2-404 allows employers to give time off from work for voting with reasonable notice,” Barren said.
The law says if your shift does not accommodate two hours — before the shift or at the end of the day — for voting, your employer must give you the time to vote. The only caveat is you have to notify your employer well in advance.
“For those leaving their job to come vote, we do have a note we can sign verifying that the person did in fact vote,” said Thomas Gillon, interim elections supervisor of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections.
Despite 2020’s long lines and setbacks in other parts of the state, Gillon said local voters will be spared similar issues Tuesday. “On election day, we rarely ever experience lines long enough that a voter could order food and have it delivered while still in line,” he said.
Can an intoxicated person vote?
Don’t count on it.
Poll officials won’t test your sobriety, but if a person is disruptive to the voting process, the poll manager will not overlook it.
“In all situations, the poll manager is allowed and required to maintain order at the polling place,” said Gillon. “So if a voter is being disruptive (for whatever reason) the poll manager can ask them to leave, or summon law enforcement.”
Can I skip the lines and vote online or curbside?
While a drive-thru election line might be a fun alternative and is actually available for disabled voters in states like Mississippi and South Carolina, Georgia law does not provide for such a service.
“Georgia law does not provide for curbside voting. However, a disabled voter can have their designated assistant take the absentee ballot to the elections office or the ballot collection drop box,” Boren said.
Georgia does not offer online voting, but you can register to vote online. The recommended option for those who want to avoid lines at polls is to absentee vote.
All of Georgia’s polling places are handicap accessible. “We have a voting booth where voters can sit while voting, and voters with disabilities (or who are at least 75 years old) can bypass the line if desired to vote at the next available booth,” Gillon said.
Details on these and other Georgia election laws are available at sos.ga.gov. Contact the elections division by calling 404-656-2871.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Pizza delivery while voting? Here is what’s allowed at the polls in Georgia.."
