Raffensperger Backed Bill to Ban Foreign Money and Influence Overwhelmingly Passes Both Houses of the General Assembly

"American elections should be decided by American citizens,” says GA SOS Raffensperger.

Atlanta - Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger applauded passage of Senate Bill 368, a measure that prohibits the use of foreign funds in Georgia elections and requires any agents for foreign countries or entities to register and disclose any political activities in Georgia.

“This is a commonsense measure to safeguard Georgia elections against foreign interference,” said Raffensperger. “Georgia voters need to know that their elections are free of foreign interference and that representatives of foreign entities register and disclose their activities. I am grateful for the efforts of Chairman Rick Williams in authoring the bill and for Chairman Alan Powell carrying it in the House.”

The bill bars foreign nationals from donating money to political campaigns, candidates, and candidate committees and prohibits those seeking public office from knowingly accepting funds from foreign agents or entities. American citizens representing foreign countries or businesses can still donate to candidates and campaigns in their capacity as American citizens, but must register with the Georgia State Ethics Commission. The measure passed unanimously in the Senate and drew only two votes of opposition in the House.

“The support for this measure was bipartisan and nearly unanimous,” said Raffensperger. “Making sure American elections are for Americans, and Americans only, is a high priority for Georgians and the people who represent them in the legislature know it.”

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Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 17 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system. Most recently, Georgia ranked #1 for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a top ranking for Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.