Section 21-2-405. Meeting of poll officers at place of primary or election; oaths; failure of poll officer to appear; custodians of voting materials; temporary absence or disability; poll workers working less than entire day

   (a) The chief manager and two assistant managers shall meet in the respective places appointed for holding the primary or election in each precinct at least one hour before the hour for opening the polls on the day of each primary or election. The other required poll officers shall meet in the respective places appointed for holding the primary or election in each precinct at least 30 minutes before the hour for opening the polls on the day of each primary or election. Before entering upon their duties at any primary or election, all poll officers shall take and subscribe in duplicate to the oaths required by this chapter.

(b) If any chief manager shall not appear at the polling place by 7:00 A.M. on the day of any primary or election, the assistant managers shall appoint a chief manager who is qualified under this chapter. If any assistant manager shall not appear at such hour, the chief manager shall appoint an assistant manager who is qualified under this chapter. If, for any reason, any vacancy in the office of manager shall not have been filled by 7:30 A.M., the electors of the precinct, present at such time, shall elect a qualified person to fill such vacancy. If any clerk shall not appear by 7:00 A.M., the chief manager shall fill such vacancy by appointing a qualified person therefor. Any person thus appointed or elected to fill a vacancy shall take and subscribe in duplicate to the appropriate oath required by this chapter.

(c) After the poll officers of a precinct have been organized, the chief manager shall designate one of the assistant managers to have custody of the electors list. In precincts in which ballots are used, the other assistant manager shall have charge of the receipt and deposit of ballots in the ballot box, the chief manager or one of the clerks shall issue the ballots to electors after they are found entitled to vote, and the other clerk shall have custody of the voter's certificate binder and shall place the voter's certificates therein as they are received and approved. In precincts in which voting machines are used, the other assistant manager or clerk shall have custody of the voter's certificate binder and shall place the voter's certificates therein as they are received and approved, and the chief manager shall have special charge of the operation of the voting machine; provided, however, that the chief manager may make other arrangements for the division of the duties imposed by this chapter, so long as each poll officer is assigned some specific duty to perform. In municipal primaries being held with separate precinct managers, the chief managers appointed by each party shall jointly appoint the person or persons to be in charge of the electors list. In all precincts, the chief manager shall assign an assistant manager or a clerk to keep a numbered list of voters, in sufficient counterparts, during the progress of the voting.

(d) Any poll officer may be assigned by the chief manager to assist another officer in the performance of his or her duties or to perform them for him during his or her temporary absence or disability.

(e) Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit a county or municipality from offering poll officers, other than the chief manager and assistant managers, the option of working part of an election day, rather than the entire day from the opening of the polls to the closing of the polls and completion of the required duties following the closing of the polls. In such cases, any poll officer who begins a shift of work after the opening of the polls shall take and subscribe the same oath as required of poll officers in subsection (a) of this Code section and shall handle such duties as assigned by the chief manager.

Orig. Code 1863, §§ 1228, 1233; Code 1868, §§ 1309, 1314; Code 1873, §§ 1282, 1287; Ga. L. 1880-81, p. 151, § 1; Code 1882, §§ 1282, 1287; Civil Code 1895, §§ 66, 71; Civil Code 1910, §§ 76, 81; Code 1933, § 34-1201; Code 1933, § 34-1308, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 308, § 5; Ga. L. 1970, p. 347, § 23; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1512, § 5; Ga. L. 1983, p. 140, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 517, § 43.