Section 21-2-452. Admission of electors to enclosed space; voting procedure generally; procedure as to write-in votes; voting by electors whose right to vote is challenged; disabled voters

   (a) No elector shall enter the enclosed space behind the guardrail provided for in subsection (a) of Code Section 21-2-267 until he or she is found entitled to vote, after which he or she shall be admitted to the voting machine booth as soon as it is vacant and shall be permitted to vote.

(b) At primaries, before an elector is admitted to the voting machine, it shall be adjusted by the poll officer in charge thereof so that such elector will only be able to vote for the candidates of the party in whose primary he or she is then participating.

(c) At primaries or elections, an elector shall vote for each candidate individually by operating the key, handle, pointer, or knob upon or adjacent to which the name of such candidate is placed. In the case of a question submitted to the vote of the electors, the elector shall operate the key, handle, pointer, or knob corresponding to the answer which he or she desires to give.

(d) An elector may, at any election, vote for any person for any office, for which office his or her name does not appear upon the voting machine as a candidate, by a write-in ballot containing the name of such person, such ballot to be deposited, written, or affixed (but not by the use of a sticker or paster) in or upon the appropriate receptacle or device provided in or on the machine for that purpose, and in no other manner. Where two or more persons are to be elected to the same office and the names of such candidates are placed upon or adjacent to a single key, handle, pointer, or knob, and the voting machine requires that all write-in ballots voted for that office be deposited, written, or affixed in or upon a single receptacle or device, an elector may vote in or by such receptacle or device for one or more persons whose names do not appear upon the machine, with or without the name of one or more persons whose names do so appear. With these exceptions, no write-in ballot shall be cast on a voting machine for any person for any office if the person's name appears on the machine as a candidate for that office, and any ballot so cast shall be void and not counted. No elector shall be permitted to cast a write-in ballot in a municipal primary.

(e) At any general election at which presidential electors are to be chosen, each elector shall be permitted to vote by one operation for all the presidential electors of a political party or body. For each party or body nominating presidential electors, a ballot label shall be provided containing only the words "Presidential Electors," preceded by the name of the party or body and followed by the names of the candidates thereof for the office of President and Vice President, and the corresponding counter or registering device shall register votes cast for such presidential electors when thus voted for collectively. If an elector desires to vote a ticket for presidential electors made up of the names of persons nominated by different parties or bodies, or partially of names of persons so in nomination and partially of names of persons not in nomination by any party or body, or wholly of names of persons not in nomination by any party or body, he or she may write or deposit a paper ballot prepared by himself or herself in the receptacle provided in or on the machine for the purpose. The machine shall be so constructed that it will not be possible for any one elector to vote a straight party or body ticket for presidential electors and at the same time to deposit a ballot for presidential electors in such receptacle. When the votes for presidential electors are counted, the votes appearing upon the counter or registering device corresponding to the ballot label containing the names of the candidates for President and Vice President of any party or body shall be counted as votes for each of the candidates for presidential elector of such party or body; and thereupon all candidates for presidential elector shall be credited, in addition, with the votes cast for them upon the ballots deposited in the machine, as provided in this Code section.

(f) As soon as the elector has adjusted the voting machine so that it will record his or her choice for the various candidates to be voted for and his or her answers to the various questions are submitted, he or she shall operate the recording mechanism and immediately leave the voting machine booth.

(g) If an elector's right to vote has been challenged pursuant to Code Section 21-2-230, the elector shall not be permitted to vote on the voting machine but shall vote by ballot in the manner prescribed by this chapter.

(h) The superintendent shall make paper ballots available for disabled electors who, due to their disability, are unable to vote on a voting machine. Absentee ballots may be used for this purpose. The superintendent shall provide sufficient accommodations to permit such disabled elector to vote in private.

Code 1933, § 34-1315, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1968, p. 851, § 8; Code 1933, § 34-1330, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1969, p. 308, §§ 14, 14a; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1360, § 18; Ga. L. 1992, p. 56, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 118, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 279, § 9; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1443, § 9; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, §§ 13, 14; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1.