Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a law Thursday to reform state elections, including new restrictions on postal voting and to give the legislature more control over how the electoral process is conducted.
Democrats and voter rights groups say the law disproportionately marginalizes voters of color. It is part of a wave of election initiatives sponsored by the Republican Party in several states of the country after former President Donald Trump promoted false allegations that fraud was responsible for his electoral defeat in 2020.
The Republican changes to Georgia’s electoral laws came after a historic rise that resulted in Democratic victories in the presidential race and two second rounds to elect federal senators in a state that used to be heavily Republican.
Kemp signed the law less than two hours after it received final approval in the Georgia General Assembly. The bill passed by 100-75 votes in the state house of deputies, before the senate approved the changes made to the lower house by 34-20 votes. Republican lawmakers voted in favor of the measure, while Democrats voted against.
Senate Democratic minority leader Gloria Butler said the bill was full of “voter suppression tactics.”
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“We are currently witnessing a massive and blatant attack on the right to vote that we have not seen since the Jim Crow era,” said Butler.
Democratic Representative Rhonda Burnough said the bill was based on lies promoted by Republicans after the November election.
“Georgia residents came to vote in record numbers because they had access to a ballot,” Burnough said. “In response, one lie after another was told, and now this proposal is based on those same lies.”
Among other things, the law requires official photo identification to vote by mail, after more than 1.3 million voters in Georgia took advantage of that option due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also shortens the time that people need to request a ballot by mail and limits the places where voting boxes can be placed and the hours they can access them.
Republican Representative Jan Jones said the provisions that reduce people’s time to request an absentee vote are intended to “increase the likelihood that a voter’s vote will be successfully cast,” after they have been voiced. not received in time to be counted.