The new Georgia elections law signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp last week has prompted lawsuits from civil rights groups. Critics of the bill say   creates “voter suppression” and creates obstacles to voting.

The Justice Department is   suing the state of Georgia over voting restrictions . This is the first time a federal legal action regarding Republican laws that bring into effect restrictions on voting,   put in place due to the former President Donald Trump’s election loss. The 2020 election had been subject to rampant fraud, according to the former President.

Republicans claim that the rules are needed to prevent voter fraud. Democrats in Congress argue that new laws presented by Republicans suppress voting especially among constituencies that historically vote for their candidates.

Democrats in Congress are making this a top priority to overturn the  state laws like the one in Georgia saying it is necessary to protect democracy.

In the House, Democrats passed a sweeping voting bill on a party-line vote that would have reversed the Georgia law and enacted other changes to national election standards and campaign finance rules. The bill was then blocked in the Senate as all of the chamber’s Republicans voted to filibuster the bill.

Republican had proposed    to eliminate or reduce early voting on Sundays.   This is the time that religious Black churchgoers participate in “souls to the polls” voting drives. This proposal was exempt from the final bill Kemp signed.   It happened to  end up expanding early voting in many counties for  the primaries and general elections.

Most importantly, the bill shortens the length  of the absentee voting period  along with change with identification requirements for absentee voters. A Georgia driver’s license or the number on their state identification card, is required or  the last four digits of their Social Security number.

There are too many provisions to list here but you can see the full bill at Legiscan here

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