Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday enacted a law reforming state elections, which includes new restrictions on postal voting and gives the legislature more control over how the electoral process is conducted.
Democrats and voter rights groups say the law disproportionately marginalizes black voters. It is part of a wave of Republican-sponsored election initiatives in different states of the country after former President Donald Trump promoted false accusations that a fraud was responsible for his electoral defeat in 2020.
Republican changes to voting laws in Georgia came after a historic turnout that resulted in Democratic triumphs in the presidential race and two rounds to elect federal senators in a state that used to be markedly Republican.
Kemp enacted the law less than two hours after it received final approval in the Georgia General Assembly. The initiative was approved by a 100-75 vote in the state House of Representatives, before the state Senate agreed to the changes made in the lower house by a 34-20 vote. Republican lawmakers voted in favor of the measure, while Democrats voted against it.
Democratic minority leader in the Senate, Gloria Butler, said the proposal was full of “voter suppression tactics.”
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“We are witnessing at this time a huge and blatant attack on electoral rights that we had not seen since the Jim Crow era,” Butler said.
Democratic Rep. Rhonda Burnough said the bill was based on the lies Republicans promoted after the November election.
“Georgia residents went out to vote in record numbers because they had access to one ballot,” Burnough said. “In response, one lie was told after another, and now this proposal is based on these same lies.”
Among other things, the law requires official photo identification to be able to vote by mail, after more than 1.3 million Georgia voters used this option due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also reduces the period people have to apply for a ballot by mail and limits the places where they can place ballot boxes and the hours of access to them.
Republican Rep. Jan Jones said provisions that cut back on the time people have to apply for a ballot in absentia are intended to “increase the likelihood that a voter’s vote will be cast successfully.” that concerns were raised in 2020 that they might not receive votes by mail in time to be counted.