President Joe Biden called a comprehensive electoral law this week signed Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp an “atrocity” and said the Justice Department is “taking a look” at the measure.
The new law includes provisions to require voter identification for absent ballots, limit the use of ballot boxes, give state officials more power over elections and make it a crime to offer voters food and water while waiting in line.
Critics argue that the law disproportionately affects black voters, who were instrumental in recent Democratic victories. Biden narrowly won the state in the 2020 election, and Georgia sent two Democrats to the Senate after the second round of the January election.
Asked by reporters on Friday how the White House could respond to the project, Biden said “we are working on it now”.
“We don’t know exactly what we can do at this point. The Justice Department is also taking a look,” said Biden.
He told reporters that the bill was an “atrocity”.
“It has nothing to do with justice, nothing to do with decency. They passed the law saying that you cannot provide water to people who stand in line while waiting to vote? You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing. as well as punitive, designed to prevent people from voting. Can’t you provide water for the people who are going to vote? Give it a break, “he said.
In a statement released on Friday, the president asked Congress to pass voting rights legislation that opposed Georgia law and other bills proposed by Republican state legislatures across the country that would make voting more difficult.
“This law, like so many others that are being pursued by Republicans in parliaments across the country, is a flagrant attack on the constitution and good conscience,” said Biden. He noted that the longer queues in the polls disproportionately affected black voters in metropolitan areas as Republican officials reduced the number of polling stations in their neighborhoods.
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act. Once again, I urge Congress to pass the People’s Law and the John Lewis Advance Voting Rights Act to make it happen. easier for all eligible Americans to access the polls and avoid attacks on the sacred right to vote, “continued Biden.
The Chamber recently passed the People’s Law, a comprehensive bill that deals with elections and electoral campaign financial reforms. However, it is unlikely to pass the Senate, where the majority of Republicans expressed opposition to the bill. Democrats have a majority of only 50 seats in the Senate, and most legislation requires 60 votes to move forward.
Even if Democrats removed the obstruction, which would reduce the limit to a simple majority, some Democrats also expressed concern about the bill. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said this week that he believed the bill should be scaled back, and that Democrats and Republicans should try to pass voting rights legislation on a bipartisan basis. Manchin is also opposed to the end of the obstruction.
In a letter to fellow Democrats on Thursday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate Judiciary Committee would soon adopt the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore the provisions of the Voting Rights Act. 1965 overthrown by the Supreme Court. Like the People’s Law, it is unlikely to receive the necessary support from 60 senators.
Meanwhile, Republicans argue that the Georgia project is not tantamount to voter suppression. Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said “the cries of ‘suppression of voters’ from those in the left circle are empty”. Kemp said it made the elections more secure.
“There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about requiring a state-issued photo or ID to vote by absentee vote. Every voter in Georgia should do so by voting in person,” said Kemp on Friday.