(The Center Square) – A bill that takes effect Thursday bars Georgia’s State Ethics Commission from investigating complaints filed 60 days or fewer before an election.
Senate Bill 199 will also require political action committees that make contributions or expenditures on behalf of candidates to have separate bank accounts.
The 26-page bill passed by the General Assembly earlier this year and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May removes home addresses of candidates from public records.
Local candidates who have filed financial disclosures with their county offices will be required to submit them to the state. The filing dates are Jan. 31, April 30, July 31 and Oct. 20, according to the bill.
The changes come ahead of a busy election season in the Peach State. Candidates are lining up in both parties to succeed Kemp, who is term-limited and cannot run again. With Lt. Gov. Burt Jones running for governor, his current job is a hot ticket in 2026.
Other statewide offices on the 2026 ballot are the secretary of state and attorney general. Both of those offices are up for grabs as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr are running for governor.
The primary election is May 19, with candidate qualifying beginning March 2. Primary runoffs, if needed, are June 16. The general election is Nov. 3 with runoffs scheduled for Dec. 1.
Before the primary election, voters in the 14th congressional district will likely go to the polls to decide who will succeed U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Rome congresswoman announced in November she will resign on Jan. 5. Kemp has 10 days to call for a special election that Georgia law requires must be held within 30 days.
Georgians in two legislative districts will go to the polls in January. A Jan. 6 runoff will determine who will fill the seat of the late Georgia Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton. Republican Bill Fincher received 27.4% of the vote for the District 23 House seat in a race that included four other Republican candidates. Democrat Scott Sanders trailed Fincher with 27.4% of the vote.
Residents represented by Georgia Sen. John Kennedy will decide who will take his place on Jan. 20. Kennedy, whose district includes Crawford, Monroe, Peach, and parts of Bibb and Houston counties, resigned to focus on his race for lieutenant governor.
