At a Tuesday meeting, the state election board voted 3-1 to issue a letter to Lyft, alleging that the company violated a provision of Georgia’s election code that prohibits giving or receiving “money or gifts” in exchange for voting. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Georgia’s State Election Board has accused the rideshare company Lyft of violating Georgia’s election law by offering discounted rides to users who were heading to the polls.
At a Tuesday meeting, the board voted 3-1 to issue a letter to Lyft, alleging that the company violated a provision of Georgia’s election code that prohibits “giving or receiving, offering to give or receive, or participating in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate.”
Violating the law is a felony offense, though the board is not issuing a fine or referring the case for criminal prosecution.
The incident stems from a series of two complaints filed by a Georgia resident ahead of the 2022 general election, flagging programs dedicated to providing transportation to the polls as potential election law violations. The first complaint was aimed at Rideshare2vote, a left-learning nonprofit dedicated to increasing turnout among Democratic voters. The second complaint was lodged against Lyft, which has been involved in voter outreach efforts across the country for the past decade.
A subsequent investigation conducted by the secretary of state’s office found that although Rideshare2vote stated that its goals were to turn out more Democratic voters, the organization provided free rides and did not turn away voters of any political affiliation. Rideshare2vote also instructed its volunteers not to ask voters about their political affiliation or urge them to support any parties or candidates. The board voted to dismiss a complaint against Rideshare2vote Tuesday.
Lyft’s voter outreach program, which provided discounted — rather than free — rides to the polls for voters across the state, proved to be a trickier issue.
Janice Johnston, the board’s Republican appointee, urged the board to pursue the complaint, despite it being slated for dismissal on Tuesday’s agenda.
“They are in violation because they offered something of value to vote,” Johnston said of Lyft’s discount program. “They have violated election code in Georgia.”
Johnston also highlighted a potential lack of access to rideshare services like Lyft in rural parts of the state, and claimed that offering discount codes to voters amounted to “vote hauling,” or buying votes.
Attorney General Chris Carr’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether Carr agrees with that interpretation of the law.
The board’s sole Democratic appointee, Sara Tindall Ghazal, pushed back on Johnston’s remarks, highlighting churches and other community groups that offer transportation to voters on election day in certain geographic areas.
“Churches, very frequently, will provide rides to their congregations to polls, and it’s absolutely untenable for them to offer [rides to] anybody across the state of Georgia,” she said.
“To suggest that the only way that is not considered a gift is if it’s offered statewide, that’s nonsensical to me.”
Secretary of state investigator Michael Brunson recommended that the complaint be dismissed, noting that similar cases have been dismissed by the board in the past. However, Johnston and another Trump-aligned member of the board, Janelle King, pushed for more action to be taken. The board will issue a letter of instruction to Lyft in the coming weeks.
Lyft did not reply to a request for comment.
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