On March 25, Georgia passed in one day -- through the House, through the Senate, passed into law by Governor Brian Kemp -- SB 202, the Election Integrity Act of 2021, a bill that radically alters the rules of elections held in Georgia.
The Democrats say it's Jim Crow, citing provisions such as:
Another new rule that affects both in-person early voting and election day voting would prohibit anyone except poll workers from handing out water to voters in line, and outlaw passing out food and water to voters within 150 feet of the building that serves as a poll, inside a polling place or within 25 feet of any voter standing in line.
And:
If you live in Fulton County, you'll no longer be able to use one of two mobile voting buses the county purchased last year to help with long lines. While a 2019 omnibus allowed early voting sites to be more locations, including places that are normally election day polls, the Republican-led legislature has now written laws that expressly prohibits a mobile poll except during an emergency declared by the governor.
The Republicans say it's all about election security, and that it actually expands voter access, citing provisions such as:
One of the biggest changes in the bill would expand early voting access for most counties, adding an additional mandatory Saturday and formally codifying Sunday voting hours as optional. Counties can have early voting open as long as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at minimum. If you live in a larger metropolitan county, you might not notice a change. For most other counties, you will have an extra weekend day, and your weekday early voting hours will likely be longer.
There's a lot in this 98-page law. Who's right? Click here for an article at GPB.org (Georgia Public Broadcasting) by Stephen Fowler entitled "What Does Georgia's New Voting Law SB 202 do?" for a summary of what's actually in the law.
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