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In response to a Georgia election reform bill that was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp on April 1, President Joe Biden took after his predecessor by propagating lies, calling it “Jim Crow on steroids,” and “a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.” In actuality, the bill, SB – 202, is indisputably constitutional as Article I of the United States Constitution clearly expresses that “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof,” while Biden also demonstrated his blinding partisanship by comparing a bill that expands voting access for most Georgia voters to the notorious voting restrictions implemented by turn-of-the-century Southern Democrats that prevented people of color from voting. Biden is not alone when it comes to Democrats disseminating disinformation: Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic Gubernatorial candidate who attempted to steal the election by claiming massive voter fraud despite losing by over 50,000 votes, not unlike Donald Trump’s 2020 election claims, falsely claimed the bill “suppresses voters, criminalizes compassion & seizes election authority from local + state officials.” Earlier this week, Abrams praised a New Jersey election reform bill that mandates 9 days of early voting, yet still claimed the Georgia bill that mandates 17 days of early voting was voter suppression.
With all the disinformation of the Georgia election bill from public officials, news organizations, and social media, it is understandably challenging to recognize what the bill changes. Despite Biden’s false claim that the bill would “end voting at five o’clock” and “ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote,” (a claim that received “Four Pinocchios” by The Washington Post) the bill allows voting precincts to be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. while mandating they stay open for a minimum of eight hours. Additionally, the bill expands early voting access to 17 days (including at least two Saturdays and two optional Sundays). The bill keeps in place no-excuse absentee voting, allowing people to vote by mail for any reason, limiting the time to request an absentee ballot to a mere 67 days while also allowing them to be completed online. The most significant change with absentee ballots is replacing signature verification—a time-consuming process for election workers—with verification through a driver’s license ID, (which 97% of Georgia voters have) the last four digits of their social security number, (which 99.9% of Georgia voters have) or a voter identification card (which is free to obtain). If voters do not have access to any of those, they can still submit verification through a photocopy or digital picture of their “current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document” that includes their name and address.
One of the most publicized features of the bill is the prohibition of the distribution of money, gifts, food, and drinks within 150ft of the polling place and 25ft of voters in line. The provision does not prohibit polling places from providing water and/or food to voters in line but merely prohibits distribution by organizations to prevent electioneering. Other changes in the bill include codifying drop-boxes into Georgia law, stating there be one for every 100,000 registered voters or advance voting locations in a county, whichever is smaller and having the state legislature select the chair of the State Election Board on the basis that the Secretary of State, the previous chair, could be influenced by re-election and other political aspirations.
Democrats and other voters have reasonable instincts against a GOP-led election reform bill in Georgia just months after Donald Trump attempted to truly disenfranchise Georgian voters by propagating conspiracy theories. However, Democrats have tried to turn this bill into something it is inherently and patently not, and it is disappointing to see President Biden contradict his own inaugural message of “reject(ing) a culture in which facts themselves are manipulated or made-up,” by doing just that. In response to claims of voter suppression (a claim that The Washington Post and The New York Times have stated as false), Georgia election official, Gabriel Sterling, asserted “It’s a lie. This is no different than the lie of Trump saying there was voter fraud in this state.”
Unfortunately, these lies are already having consequences against Georgians. Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Commissioner, Rob Manfred, knelt to the mob by announcing it was moving their All-Star Game out of Atlanta over “restrictions to the ballot box,” a boycott of Georgia proposed by the President of the United States. Despite Biden’s boycott for a baseball game solely because Georgia passed a bill that broadly expanded voting access, Biden has not proposed a similar boycott for the 2022 Olympics held in China, where they currently hold Chinese Uighurs in internment camps. Holly Quinlan, president and CEO of Cobb Travel and Tourism, announced that the “estimated lost economic impact” from MLB’s relocation is more than $100 million. Sterling responded to the boycott called on by Biden: “I think it’s morally reprehensible and disgusting that he’s perpetuating economic blackmail over a lie.” It will be interesting to see if Commissioner Rob Manfred decides to move the MLB’s headquarters out of New York upon discovering that their current election laws only offer 9 days of early voting, excuse-only absentee voting, and a prohibition on food and water distribution to voters in-line.
