It’s illegal in Georgia for anyone except poll workers to provide water to voters within a certain distance of polls

Claims of voter suppression surfaced in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election, with long lines going viral on social media. Those claims only intensified after Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which has been criticized for its regulations that some say could disenfranchise voters.

One of the people to criticize the law was President Joe Biden, who referenced one of its regulations regarding food and drink while giving the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 19, 2024. 

 “Today in Georgia, they won't allow water to be available to you while you wait in line to vote in an election,” Biden said in a clip of the speech shared by the Republican National Committee (RNC) on X. 

The RNC claimed “that’s a debunked lie.”

This exchange had many wondering whether Georgia has a law restricting access to water for people waiting in line for the polls. 

THE QUESTION

Is there a Georgia law that restricts who can give water to people waiting in line for the polls?   

THE SOURCES

• Georgia law

• Court documents

• Georgia Secretary of State’s office

• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

• American Bar Association (ABA)

THE ANSWER

Yes, there is a Georgia law that restricts who can give water to people waiting in line for the polls.  

WHAT WE FOUND

A Georgia law does make it illegal for anyone except for poll workers to give water to voters within a certain distance of the polls.

The law, which was passed in 2021, makes it illegal for anyone to give a voter any money or gifts, “including, but not limited to, food and drink” while they wait in line to vote. The law noted that this does not prohibit a poll worker from distributing items or “from making available self-service water from an unattended receptacle.”

The text of the law prohibits anyone from handing out food or drink to voters in line within the polling place, within 150 feet of the polling place and “within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.”

On Aug. 18, 2023, a judge ruled that Georgia cannot enforce the part of the law that applies to people handing out water within 25 feet of any voter standing in line. 

That means that currently, if the line to vote extends beyond 150 feet of the polling location, anyone can hand out water to voters beyond that point without fear of arrest.

A voter may also bring water with them when heading to vote, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. If the voter doesn’t bring their own water, a Georgia voter can only get water within 150 feet of the polls if a poll worker gives it to them, or has made a self-service water station available.

Georgia’s law is considered an electioneering law, which is a kind of law that restricts campaigning by polling places, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). 

But the American Bar Association (ABA) says this law does not not differentiate between partisan organizations giving out gifts, food or drinks and nonpartisan organizations giving out food or drink without endorsing a particular candidate or position.

The NCSL says there are only two other states with electioneering laws that include restrictions on offering food and drink at polling places. New York prohibits anyone from providing a drink with a retail value of more than $1 at polling places. Montana prohibits candidates and their campaigns from distributing drinks at polling places, but does not prohibit other people from doing so.