ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia voters will see three constitutional amendments on the ballot as they head to the polls.

“These constitutional amendments were designed to get direct input from the state, and when people are surprised when to see things like this on their ballot, it could elicit certain types of responses. It could elicit a response of ‘I don’t know, so therefore I’m going to skip voting,’ which is very common,” said Andra Gillespie, political scientist at Emory University.

The first proposed amendment changes property tax evaluation for large landowners in agriculture and timber. The amendment would raise the maximum amount of land that can be put aside for conservation use, so that land can be taxed at a lower rate.

Proponents said it will help reduce the burden on family farmers, while those opposed say it will benefit industrial farms.

The second proposed amendment would no longer identify probate judges, who handle things like wills and estates, by party affiliation on ballots.

“They can be involved in some other matters in counties, but the office is viewed as largely a nonpartisan office in terms of the types of issues that they would be dealing with. Even possibly less partisan than some of the other judicial offices in the state. And so that was part of the motivation to switching those races from being partisan to being explicitly nonpartisan,” said Gillespie.

However, some people said they worry that taking away party identifiers could mean less information for voters.

The third amendment up for a vote addresses aging statewide 911 infrastructure. The proposed funding for Next Generation 911 would allow the state to set aside money to modernize 911 systems.

Critics said that money could be used for other law enforcement purposes.

Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security said 88% of 911 centers in the state rely on aging infrastructure. The funding would help modernize several areas for emergency response, such as more precise location tracking, greater consistency and more ways to communicate with 911 through calls, texts, photos and videos.

“So that it can keep up with changes in terms of how we use telephones today,” said Gillespie.

Amending Georgia’s constitution is not a new process. Since the constitution’s ratification in 1983, 109 amendments have been put before the voters and 89 have passed.

“It’s actually very common in election years for there to be some type of statewide constitutional amendment initiative that’s going on, so it’s always important to read down to the bottom of the ballot because that’s where those will come,” said Gillespie.

Gillespie said voters should do research and view a sample ballot before casting their ballots.

“It’s best to arm yourself with as much information in advance of the election, so that you don’t end up making a snap decision that you regret later,” said Gillespie.

Click here to view a sample ballot.

Early voting ends Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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