Category: State Legislator
Role: Georgia State Senator, District 23 (Sylvania); Original sponsor of SB 202 before House expansion (2021)
Priority: P1 (Original Senate sponsor of SB 202; bill expanded from 2 to 95 pages in House; enacted into law; comprehensive voting restrictions; federal and state court challenges)

Role

Max Burns, a Republican state senator from Sylvania representing Georgia Senate District 23, served as the original sponsor of Senate Bill 202 in 2021, the “Election Integrity Act of 2021.” The bill began as a 2-page Senate proposal but was dramatically expanded by Rep. Barry Fleming in the House to approximately 93-95 pages of comprehensive voting restrictions. SB 202 was co-sponsored by Senators Miller (49th), Dugan (30th), Ginn (47th), Anderson (24th), “and others.” The bill passed along party lines (House 100-75, Senate party-line vote) and was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp on March 25, 2021, making Georgia one of the first states to enact major voting restrictions following the 2020 election.

Background

Burns has served in the Georgia Senate and was part of the Republican legislative effort to restrict voting following the 2020 election, when Georgia went for Biden and elected two Democratic senators in runoffs. Georgia Republicans were motivated to restrict access in response to these Democratic victories and false fraud claims. Burns’s role as original Senate sponsor gave the bill legitimacy, though Rep. Barry Fleming’s House expansion transformed the scope and content dramatically.

Documented Actions

1. SB 202 – Original Senate Sponsorship Before House Expansion (2021)

Evidence: Burns was the original Senate sponsor of SB 202, introducing the bill as a relatively short (approximately 2-page) proposal. However, Rep. Barry Fleming, chair of the House Special Committee on Election Integrity, introduced a House substitute that dramatically expanded the bill to approximately 93-95 pages, transforming it from a targeted measure into a comprehensive election omnibus.

The expansion process demonstrated a legislative strategy: start with a relatively modest Senate bill (easier to characterize as reasonable), then dramatically expand it in the House (where Republican majority was larger), creating a comprehensive restriction package that could move quickly before public opposition could fully mobilize.

Burns’s original sponsorship gave SB 202 Senate legitimacy and bipartisan Senate co-sponsorship (“and others” indicating broad Republican support), while Fleming’s House expansion added the substantive restrictions. This division of labor—Burns providing Senate cover, Fleming providing House substance—exemplified coordinated bicameral strategy.

The final 95-page bill included provisions to:

• Restrict absentee ballot drop boxes (limited hours, video surveillance)
• Ban mobile voting centers
• Shorten runoff periods
• Limit line-warming assistance (food/water distribution)
• Require ID for absentee ballot applications
• Shift power from Secretary of State to legislature-controlled board
• Allow unlimited challenges to voter registrations

Sources: Georgia Legislature SB 202 bill tracking; Georgia Public Broadcasting reporting on bill expansion; Capitol Beat analysis

Pattern: Original 2-page Senate bill expanded to 95 pages in House; bicameral coordination (Burns Senate cover, Fleming House substance); comprehensive omnibus strategy; rapid expansion before opposition mobilization

2. Multiple Co-Sponsors Showing Unified Republican Support

Evidence: SB 202 was co-sponsored by Senators Miller (49th), Dugan (30th), Ginn (47th), Anderson (24th), “and others.” Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan had introduced a related bill with “all but three Republicans in the Senate” co-sponsoring, demonstrating nearly-unanimous Georgia Republican support for election restrictions.

This broad co-sponsorship created shared ownership across the Georgia Republican Senate caucus, making SB 202 a party priority rather than isolated initiative. The “and others” language in the bill text suggested additional co-sponsors beyond those named, indicating even broader support.

The near-unanimous Republican support (Dugan’s related bill having all but three Senate Republicans) demonstrated that Georgia’s voting restriction effort was a coordinated party-wide initiative, not the work of a few outliers. This unified front made it harder for opponents to isolate specific legislators for accountability and signaled to the Republican base that the entire caucus stood behind the restrictions.

The co-sponsor list also created political pressure on any Republican legislators who might have been hesitant—opposing or weakening SB 202 would have meant breaking with nearly the entire caucus and Senate leadership.

Sources: SB 202 enrolled bill text showing co-sponsors; Capitol Beat reporting on related bills and Republican support levels

Pattern: Multiple named co-sponsors plus “and others”; near-unanimous Republican caucus support (all but three); coordinated party-wide initiative; political pressure on hesitant Republicans; shared ownership preventing individual isolation

3. Successful Enactment Despite National Outrage and Legal Challenges

Evidence: SB 202 passed the House 100-75 and the Senate along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed. Governor Brian Kemp signed it into law on March 25, 2021. The bill’s enactment made Georgia one of the first states to pass major voting restrictions in 2021 and sparked national outrage, including:

• Federal court challenges: Voting rights organizations filed multiple federal lawsuits challenging SB 202 under the Voting Rights Act and constitutional provisions
• State court challenges: Georgia voters and organizations filed state constitutional challenges
• Corporate backlash: Major companies (including Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, MLB) condemned the law, with MLB moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta
• Federal legislation response: Democrats cited SB 202 as a primary example justifying the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and Freedom to Vote Act

Despite this backlash, SB 202 remained in effect (pending ongoing litigation) and served as a template for other states’ voting restriction efforts. Georgia Republicans defended the law as necessary for “election integrity,” though critics noted Georgia’s 2020 election had been secure and audited multiple times without finding fraud.