Section 21-2-92. Qualifications of poll officers; service during municipal election or primary; Student Teen Election Participant (STEP) program

   (a) Poll officers appointed pursuant to Code Sections 21-2-90 and 21-2-91 shall be judicious, intelligent, and upright citizens of the United States, residents of or otherwise employed by the county in which they are appointed or, in the case of municipal elections, residents of or otherwise employed by the municipality in which the election is to be held or of the county in which that municipality is located, 16 years of age or over, and shall be able to read, write, and speak the English language. No poll officer shall be eligible for any nomination for public office or to be voted for at a primary or election at which the poll officer shall serve. No person who is otherwise holding public office, other than a political party office, shall be eligible to be appointed as or to serve as a poll officer. A parent, spouse, child, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of a candidate shall not be eligible to serve as a poll officer in any precinct in which such candidate's name appears on the ballot in any primary or election.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, in the event that a municipal primary or election is held in conjunction with a regular county, state, or federal election, poll officers assigned by the county election superintendent to conduct such county, state, or federal election shall also be authorized to serve as poll officers to conduct such municipal election or primary and shall not be required to be residents of said municipality.

(c) Each local board of education and election superintendent shall be authorized to develop and implement through a coordinated effort a Student Teen Election Participant (STEP) program. The STEP program shall permit full-time public, private, and home schooled high school students to volunteer to work as poll officers during any primary, special, or general election. In addition to the qualifications set forth in subsection (a) of this Code section, a student participating in the STEP program shall:

   (1) Be a United States citizen;

   (2) Have a Georgia driver's license or Georgia state-issued identification card;

   (3) Have demonstrated age-appropriate academic ability for the previous school year; and

   (4) Have a history of responsible school and community behavior.

A student participating in the STEP program shall at all times while working as a poll officer remain under the supervision of an adult poll officer or manager who is 21 years of age or older. No student shall be permitted to participate in the STEP program without the written authorization of his or her parent or legal guardian and such other documentation as may be required by the local board of education or election superintendent. A student in the STEP program shall work a minimum of four but not more than six hours during a single election day and shall receive age-appropriate training for serving as a poll officer. A student who successfully participates in the STEP program shall be counted as present and given full credit for the school day during which he or she served in the STEP program. No student shall be permitted to be absent from school or participate in the STEP program for more than two school days. The election superintendent and local board of education shall adopt mutually agreed upon rules, regulations, and policies prior to the initiation of a STEP program.

Code 1933, § 34-503, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess., p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1406, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 649, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 295, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 914, § 3/HB 540; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1026, § 1/SB 101.