Section 21-2-4. Preparation, printing, publicizing, and distributing of summary of general amendments to Constitution of Georgia; recording summary on audio tape or other media

   (a) The summary of general amendments to the Constitution of Georgia prepared by the Attorney General, the legislative counsel, and the Secretary of State pursuant to Article X, Section I, Paragraph II of the Constitution of Georgia shall be printed by the Secretary of State in sufficient quantities to make available a copy of such summary to any interested citizen requesting a copy. In preparing the summary provided by this provision of the Constitution of Georgia, the Attorney General, the legislative counsel, and the Secretary of State shall provide an explanation of each proposed general amendment to the Constitution of Georgia in language free of legalistic and technical terms, to the end that the summary may be read and understood by the majority of citizens of this state. The Secretary of State shall be authorized to include with such summary, as a part of the same document, a summary or explanation of any state-wide referendum questions to be voted on at the same general election and any other explanatory materials as may be deemed appropriate by the Secretary of State.

(b) The Secretary of State shall cause a supply of the summary to be printed as soon as practicable after the summary has been prepared. The quantity of such supply shall be at the discretion of the Secretary of State. Immediately after receiving a supply of the printed summary, the Secretary of State shall prepare a press release stating that a summary of proposed general amendments to the Constitution of Georgia is available for distribution to interested citizens and advising such citizens of the method or methods by which a copy of such summary may be obtained. The Secretary of State shall distribute this press release to print and broadcast media throughout the state and shall actively seek the cooperation of the media in publicizing the fact that a summary of proposed general amendments to the Constitution of Georgia is available to interested citizens and encouraging citizens to obtain a copy of the summary. The Secretary of State shall reissue, at his discretion, this press release from time to time up to the date of the general election at which the proposed general amendments to the Constitution of Georgia shall be submitted to the electorate for approval or rejection.

(c) The Secretary of State shall send a supply of the printed summary to the superintendent of elections of each county. The press release provided by subsection (b) of this Code section shall state that the summary is available at the office of each election superintendent. Each election superintendent shall distribute a copy of the summary, as made available by the Secretary of State in his discretion, to any interested citizen on request. The press release shall also state that the summary may be obtained by mail and shall advise citizens how a copy may be so obtained. The Secretary of State shall be authorized to use any additional methods for the distribution of the summary as he may deem necessary to achieve the most effective distribution of the summary to all interested citizens.

(d) The Secretary of State is authorized to provide for the preparation of a supply of audio tapes, compact discs, or other media or an Internet website which shall contain the summary of each proposed general amendment to the Constitution as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section, together with a listing of the candidates for each of the state representatives to the United States Congress and the candidates for every public office elected by the electors of the entire state. A sufficient number of the audio tapes, compact discs, or other media may be prepared as will permit the distribution of at least one tape, disc, or other media form to each of the public libraries within the state for the purpose of providing voting information and assistance to any interested citizen. The Secretary of State may cause a supply of the tapes, discs, or other media to be prepared and distributed as soon as practicable after the summary has been prepared and the names of the candidates for each of the public offices to be included are known to be candidates. If the Secretary of State provides such information through an Internet website, it shall not be necessary to provide such information by audio tape, compact disc, or other media.

Ga. L. 1981, p. 660, § 1; Code 1981, § 21-1-2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 21; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 1117, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 10, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 400, § 1; Code 1981, § 21-2-4, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2001, Ex. Sess., p. 335, § 4; Ga. L. 2005, p. 253, § 2/HB 244.