Heads up Georgia absentee voters... possible voter suppression tactic

[Sedona]

I've been voting absentee for 20+ years and have never seen this before...possible voter suppression tactic?

You must "remove this stub before returning ballot"

[Hoyt]

1. Don't think it's a voter suppression effort. The stub is used in a lot of places, and staff

will likely remove it in the event voters don't.

Here's an explanation from another state:

"The barcode contains information about what races and measures are on the ballot – because they vary by district. Instead of looking over each ballot to make sure each voter has the correct races for where they’re registered, they scan the barcodes to confirm the ballot is the correct match for each voter.

"The stubs must be removed because the machines used to scan and count votes can’t process ballots with the extra strip of paper attached to the top.

"If you forget to tear off the stub, it’s not the end of the world; elections staff will remove rogue stubs when opening envelopes. But that can be time consuming, so the folks at King County Elections would really, really like it if you took the tab off at home."

https://www.kuow.org/stories/you-know-tab-you-tear-your-ballot-here-s-why-it-exists

[napi21]

2. Naw, no voter suppression. The ballot won't fit in the inner envelope with the stub still attached.

I'm not sure why it's there. Maybe needed for the printing process or something.