After President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump by a narrow 11,779 votes in Georgia in the 2020 general election, state legislators have passed new laws that put additional restrictions on voting.
Among the most substantial changes are that voters have less time to request absentee ballots—Georgia voters cannot request a ballot no more than 78 days earlier or less than 11 days prior to the date of the primary or general election—there are strict new identification requirements for absentee ballots. It is now illegal for election officials to mail out absentee ballot applications to all voters, offering food or water to voters waiting in line can result in a misdemeanor charge and drop boxes have been substantially reduced.
Other changes include the banning of mobile voting centers, the method for vote counting and regulations regarding runoff election timelines and processes.
Georgia, a historically red state, swung blue in the 2020 election because of the influx of votes coming from large cities in the state, like Atlanta. This law, proposed and passed by a Republican heavy state legislature, is intended to silence those voices by placing a substantial burden on their ability to vote.
Most employed Americans do not have time to go to their local polling sites and wait for hours to cast their votes.These added restrictions that make mail-in voting substantially more difficult, likely prevent those who historically vote by mail from ensuring their participation in elections.
Biden spoke out against the new law calling it the “Jim Crow in the 21st Century,” as the law disproportionately affects Black voters, who represent a third of Georgia’s population and proved crucial in the Democratic victory. 1.3 million, more than a quarter of all Georgia voters, voted absentee in the 2020 Election. And there were many more Black Georgians than white who cast their ballots by mail.
Additionally, exit polls showed that 88 percent of the Black electorate supported Joe Biden, and in the senate runoffs, 92 percent of black voters supported Democratic candidate Sen. Jon Ossoff and 93 percent supported Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Requiring this new form of identification for absentee voters presents barriers the 200,000 Georgians who do not have a driver’s license or state identification card.
The inability to offer food or water to voters waiting in line also disproportionately affects black voters. As shown in data collected by Georgia Public Broadcasting and ProPublica, the average wait time was 51 minutes in polling places that 90 percent or more non-white versus six minutes at polling places where 90 percent or more of voters were white.
The decrease in mail-in ballot drop boxes increases difficulty for those who work multiple jobs or long hours. It is likely that this type of voter suppression travels beyond Georgia— it could very well set a precedent for many other states with Republican heavy legislatures to follow.
Voting should not be a matter of polarization as it is one the most basic, valued rights awarded to us as Americans. Yet, power hungry politicians remain determined to silence voices in order to push agendas.
Systemic racism presents consistent threats in this country that have permeated into the electoral system. This Georgia law proves that is an ongoing issue as the people that are going to be affected by it most are those who are most desperate to have their voices heard.
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2 Comments
This article is typical left wing propaganda that only speaks to the restrictions without talking about the additional pre Election Day on site voting days including weekends. Why is it that so many of us can get our butts to the voting booths even though we work but others can’t make the same effort?
So what is restrictive about requesting mail in ballots during a 67 day window??
What is wrong with requesting voter ID & those that don’t have it have over a year to make some effort to get one.
If people want to be part of the process then they simply need to make the same effort we do.
This is not about voter suppression by simply insuring that vote counting is not about ballot stuffing & forged votes determining our elections.
You seem to be regurgitating things you’ve heard, rather than actually reading the law yourselves. The new law is to promote election integrity. I would think you would want each vote to count, rather than have a legitimate ballot cancelled out by an illegal/ineligible vote.
You should also be careful about quoting Biden on anything. The man is a career politician, known liar and plagiarist and is exhibiting the early stages of dementia.
As for requiring ID, you need ID for just about every aspect of life in this country, including doctor visits, picking up a prescription, to apply for a job, to open a bank account, even to pick up Claritin D at the pharmacy. To say that it would be a burden for minorities – or anyone – to obtain an ID in this day and age is an insult, particularly since obtaining an ID is free in Georgia.
The endless refrain of “systemic racism” from the left is tiresome. A person who sees racism everywhere is usually a racist themselves and/or doesn’t have facts to back them up during a conversation, argument or debate. The conversation is shut down as soon as someone cries “racism.”
Here’s an article that will give you clearer information on the Georgia voting laws, which are less “repressive” than the laws in Delaware, your hero Biden’s home state. https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/03/30/fact-checking-6-of-opponents-claims-about-georgias-election-law/