Georgia Today: New rules recommended for mail-in voting; Constituents react to MTG resignation

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, the Georgia State Election Board votes to recommend putting new limits on mail-in voting. A former student gives Milledgeville's Georgia College and State University its largest-ever gift. And constituents react to the early resignation of congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

Floyd Farless: I wish he had not done it at this situation. It does leave us without representation till somebody is appointed. 

Orlando Montoya: Today is Tuesday, Nov. 25. I'm Orlando Montoya, and this is Georgia Today. 

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: The Georgia State Election Board voted last month to recommend ending Georgia's no-excuse absentee ballot policy. GPB's Chase McGee has more on the nationwide push to limit voting by mail. 

Chase McGee: The State Election Board's policy sets up a legislative battle, since the appointed board can't set policy themselves. Last year, the board declined to change Georgia's policy, but this move comes as several states are also considering redistricting and other changes to election procedures ahead of the 2026 midterms. David Becker is the founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. He says limiting or doing away with mail-in voting often disenfranchises rural voters. 

David Becker: For voters living in rural areas who really depend upon the mail — states that have widespread mail voting, Montana, Idaho, Utah, a lot of states in the West that do this — they could find that there are real problems. 

Chase McGee: Lawmakers could revisit the practice in January with the start of the legislative session. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee. 

Caption

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks during a hearing, Friday, April 22, 2022, in Atlanta. Greene is appearing at a hearing Friday in Atlanta in a challenge filed by voters who say she shouldn't be allowed to seek reelection because she helped facilitate the attack on the Capitol that disrupted certification of Joe Biden's presidential victory.

Credit: AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: Rome congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's decision to resign from the U.S. House could topple some political dominoes in a GOP stronghold. A special election to fill her seat could be called as early as February. Political watchers expect several Republican state senators to consider running in Greene's Northwest Georgia district. Colton Moore of Trenton says he's exploring the idea. Others, including Jason Anavitarte of Dallas, Ed Setzler of Acworth and Chuck Payne of Dalton have had their names tossed around, but did not immediately respond to requests for comment yesterday. Meanwhile, her resignation, after publicly disagreeing with President Donald Trump, has surprised some of her constituents. GPB's Sarah Kallis spoke with voters in Rome. 

Sarah Kallis: Voters living in Greene's district overwhelmingly supported her in the 2024 election. Some agreed with her decision to leave Congress early and avoid a primary, where President Trump vowed to back an opponent. Others were disappointed in her decision. Constituent Floyd Farless from Rome says he voted for Greene. 

Floyd Farless: I wish she had not done it at this situation. It does leave us without representation till somebody is appointed. She has been somewhat of a firebrand, but every area has got their own. And she would have been reelected for sure here. I don't think there'd be any question about it. 

Sarah Kallis: A special election to replace Greene is expected early next year. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Rome. 

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: An Atlanta nonprofit is planning a care package giveaway for unhoused young adults tomorrow. GPB's Peter Biello has more. 

Peter Biello: Covenant House Georgia provides shelter and support to youth experiencing homelessness in Atlanta. The packages will contain hygiene products, like soap, as well as a handwritten card from volunteers offering words of support. Volunteer A.G. Bankole-Hameed spearheaded the project. He says the messages in the cards are meant to offer hope. 

A.G. Bankole-Hameed: It's something simple, like, "After the night comes, the sun always rises." You know, that's one of them that we wrote down. It's just something simple that they can remember. It's impactful that, you know, it shows that tough times don't last. 

Peter Biello: Organizers are aiming to give away 50 of these care packages tomorrow at Covenant House Georgia in Northwest Atlanta from 10 a.m. to noon. For GPB News, I'm Peter Biello.

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: A humanitarian group is stepping in to help families struggling with rising costs this holiday season. Convoy of Hope has launched an initiative to distribute 10 million meals nationwide from now until the end of the year. The group partners with food pantries, churches and civic organizations to get groceries directly to families who need them. In metro Atlanta, Chapel Hill Church in Douglasville, which runs a food pantry, is serving as a key distribution partner. The group says the need is growing as more families face higher costs from food, health care and everyday expenses. 

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: Georgia's cotton acreage has fallen to its lowest level in three decades. U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Nov. 14 shows Georgia farmers harvested 830,000 acres of cotton in 2025, 22% lower than in 2024. A cotton agronomist at the University of Georgia says global supply has surged while demand has slumped, leading to low prices causing many farmers to pass on planting cotton. 

Caption

A recent $9 million donation to Georgia College State University from the late Gertrude Ehrlich’s estate is the largest in the school’s 136-year history, the university announced Friday morning.

Credit: Georgia College State University

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: A late alumna of Georgia College and State University in Middle Georgia's Milledgeville has given the college its largest-ever gift. The college says the $9 million bequest announced last week will support financially vulnerable students. As GPB's Grant Blankenship explains, the woman who made the donation came to the school as a refugee. 

Grant Blankenship: Gertrude Ehrlich was a college-tenured Ph.D. mathematician with advanced degrees from the University of Tennessee and from Chapel Hill. She taught for 37 years at the University Of Maryland. That was after fleeing Nazi-occupied Vienna with her family as a child in 1939, and after her undergraduate studies at Georgia College and State University, which she told an interviewer in 2017, were made possible by a special refugee scholarship. 

Gertrude Ehrlich: And I was the second refugee scholar. They were so kind to me. I mean, you know, I didn't pay a penny. 

Grant Blankenship: Ehrlich's gift of $9 million will go to Pell-eligible students at Georgia College starting fall of next year. Ehrlick passed away this year at the age of 102. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship. 

Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: And finally, on this episode, the Savannah Bananas are planning to create a marketplace for verified secondary tickets. The wildly popular exhibition baseball team announced the initiative yesterday. Team founder Jesse Cole says the system aims to protect fans from a flood of online scalpers and fake tickets. 

And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. If you'd like to learn more about these stories, visit gpb.org/news. If you haven't yet hit "Subscribe" on this podcast, take a moment right now, and keep us current in your podcast feed. If you have feedback, we'd love to hear it. Email us at GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya, and I'll talk to you again tomorrow.

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