New GA law prohibits giving food, water near polls. Will Muscogee officials enforce it?
The district attorney for the Chattahoochee Judicial District said he would not prosecute people who passed out food and water to residents in line to vote despite provisions in Georgia’s new election laws forbidding it.
Mark Jones told the Ledger-Enquirer Wednesday that he didn’t like the law, calling it an “obvious attempt at voter suppression.” Under the new law, it is a misdemeanor to pass out food and water within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building being used as a polling location, inside a poll or within 25 feet of a voter standing in line at a polling location.
The law doesn’t prohibit poll workers from passing out materials or prevent self-service water stations from being set up.
“I wouldn’t be interested in prosecuting on something like this,” he said. “I don’t see that there was a problem to begin with (by) giving someone water if they’re waiting outside to vote and they are hot and it’s in the middle of June or whenever it is. It’s just the nice thing to do. ...I think it’s biblical. There’s Bible verses about giving people water. I don’t understand it.”
Jones’ office handles the prosecution of misdemeanors in Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Talbot and Taylor counties, he said. A separate office, the solicitor general, handles misdemeanors in Muscogee County after defendants have their initial hearings in either Columbus Recorder’s Court or Muscogee Municipal Court.
Muscogee County’s Solicitor General, Suzanne Goddard, did not respond to interview requests regarding the new law.
Jones joins Gwinnett County Solicitor Brian Whiteside, who told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he would not prosecute residents who passed out food and water to voters.
“I would divert that case and either dismiss it or talk to them and explain the law,” Jones said. “But a fine or something of that nature? No, If it’s just a single person. Now if it’s something more coordinated, I guess you kind of do have to look at it. If money or anything is being exchanged or something of that nature, obviously, that’s inappropriate.”
How will law enforcement handle calls?
Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman said the decision to arrest, issue citations or give warnings for passing out food and water to voters is left to the discretion of the deputy or deputies who arrive at the scene.
The sheriff said he hasn’t had any conversations or training with his deputies regarding the new law. His office is responsible for monitoring voting sites on election days.
“I find it hard to believe that there will be a lot of arrests made on that. ... One thing I’ve asked for our deputies to look at since I’ve been here is for us to have more teachable moments,” he said. “For example, we don’t have to write everyone that we pull over a traffic ticket.”
Both Countryman and Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren said there were still ways for people to give food and water to voters under the law.
“If you think about the City Services Center, which was an early voting location, we had people standing in line often,” she said in a recent interview with the Ledger-Enquirer regarding new election laws. “If an organization wanted to set up in the library parking lot, that is more than 150 feet, and it’s probably more than 25 feet from anyone standing in line. ... A voter could approach them.”
The food and water provision is one of several changes under the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which touches nearly every aspect of voting and election administration. Boren told the Ledger-Enquirer last week that the new law will result in fewer absentee ballot drop boxes and a likely drop in the number of early voting sites across the county.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.