Update: This story has been updated to reflect the Georgia Senate passing the elections bill approved earlier Thursday by Georgia’s House.
Georgia’s Republican-controlled legislature has passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s election rules.
The closely watched legislation in the highly competitive state heightens ID requirements for absentee voting, limits drop box use and prohibits the distribution of food and most beverages to voters while they’re waiting in line.
The bill now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who reportedly will be signing the legislation later Thursday evening.
Kemp, along with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), faced scorn from President Trump and his allies for their refusal to disturb Trump’s 2020 defeat in the state. Trump’s lies about there being mass voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere have propelled proposals in statehouses across the country that would make it harder to vote.
The bill passed by the House on Thursday targets Raffensperger in particular, by demoting him from chair of the state board of elections to a non-voting member, and letting the legislature choose the state board’s chair instead. The bill additionally gives the state board new authorities to dismantle and replace local election entities.
The legislation also creates new ID requirements for mail voting. In lieu of the current signature match system, absentee voters — both when applying to vote by mail and submitting the ballot itself — would be required to provide either a photo copy of their ID or certain types of ID numbers.
Election officials will face more restrictions on where they can place drop boxes and what hours those receptacles can be accessed, under the bill. The legislation shortens the absentee voting period and also limits when in-person voters can have their votes counted if they show up at the wrong polling place.
Additionally, the practice known as “line warming” — when outside groups or individuals give in-person voters waiting in line food or beverages — would be mostly prohibited; the only exception the bill gives is for self-service water containers.
The legislation passed out of both the Georgia House and the Senate on Thursday, as the legislature nears the end of its session next week.
Republicans have backed off of some of their most extreme proposals, including a Senate-approved measure that would end no-excuse voting as well as a proposal to end Sunday in-person voting in the state. In some parts of Georgia, the opportunities for in-person voting would be expanded under the bill passed Thursday, including with its requirement for two Saturday voting periods. However, other counties — and particularly metro areas — will likely have to scale back their voting opportunities to meet the mandates of the bill.
Do these klan krackers believe they can do this with impunity? That the good people of Georgia will quietly accept this?
They will wear their shame a long time when we overcome them.
Once again, the Georgia GQP strives to strike a blow for fascist autocracy.
"It’s getting harder and harder to choose your voters these days."™
— Rethugliklan’s Lament
Full court press by Dems and their allies. Kill the filibuster. Pass HR1. Massive voter outreach and drive. Unapologetic messaging about their agenda and values. And most of all, stop deferring to Repubs and calling and treating them like “distinguished colleagues”, which they’re not. They’re vile and need to be called out as such. Go on the offensive and break their spirits and will. Disabuse them of their conceit and delusion about being superior and justified in what they’re doing because of this delusion. Make them stop assuming and believing that they’re better because they’re white, conservative, Christian and mostly male and straight. CRUSH their souls and spirit and take away their confidence in themselves and their will to fight and win. Seriously, this is in many ways a psychological and messaging war, and we have to win.
Finish the Civil War and 'Ole Abe & Ullyses’s work and make them proud.
I’d like to know if in the past “line warmers” only handed out food, drink, or offered to stand in line for someone to use a restroom only did it for voters of one party or for everyone who was standing in line? I mean the thing that GA legislature doesn’t want to hear about or address is why there are very long lines at some polling places.
And for the voting in the wrong precinct we fixed that here in St Louis County, and I believe no other county purchased the machines that allow the voter to vote in any precinct. I maybe wrong but when GA purchased new machines, and used them for the first time last year during the primary, I got the impression that machines were purchased by the state. The state then allocated machines to the counties. Here in MO the counties makes the decision on what kind of machines to purchase. I guess that it’s different in other states.