Cumming Rep. Duncan Introduces Legislation to Amend Georgia Constitution

Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming), who represents Forsyth County's new District 26, introduced legislation in the Georgia House of Representatives Thursday to amend the Georgia Constitution to guarantee a secret ballot wherever local, state or federal law requires an election.

“Big Labor is demanding to change the way unions are organized: namely, to end an employee’s right to a secret-ballot when deciding whether or not to join a union,” said Duncan in a press release. “Eliminating the secret-ballot requirement opens the process up to widespread intimidation."

Save Our Secret Ballot has appeared on the ballot in five states, including Alabama, Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah—passing in each state with more than 60 percent of the vote. It's expected to pass in Indiana later this year, and Georgia will make the seventh state to join the coalition.

In 2011, the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board filed suit against Arizona and South Dakota to overturn their voter-approved constitutional amendments. Ruling against the NLRB, the federal district court upheld the constitutionality of the amendments in protecting the secret ballot.

Desperate, the NLRB is now focusing on agency rulemaking to eliminate the rights of workers to have access to a secret ballot.

“H.R. 108 gives voters not only an opportunity to protect one of their most fundamental rights, it safeguards them against future action,” said Duncan. “Perhaps as important, it sends a strong message to taxpayers and businesses that while some states may be sitting idle, Georgia is committed to defending its economy for both the short and long-term.”

Several lawmakers including, Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), Majority Whip Edward Lindsey (R-Atlanta) and Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City), have co-signed legislation H.R. 108.

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