Georgia state senators passed legislation this week that imposes limitations on absentee voting, months after the trustworthy red state turned blue in the November election after record absentee voters turned out.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the project, which seeks to place more restrictions on who can vote absent, was proposed by a state Senate subcommittee in a 3-2 vote on the party line on Wednesday.
The move would require a reason for each person to vote absent, such as being “absent from your district during primary school”, having a physical disability that would prevent them from going to the polls or at least being 75 years old.
As of now, the state does not require voters to have a reason to vote absent.
The bill is among a series promoted by state legislators from the Republican Party that, according to supporters of the right to vote, could make it more difficult for Georgia voters to vote.
On Thursday, the state Senate ethics committee led by the Republican Party also passed a bill in a 7 to 4 vote that aims to compel voters to refrain from including their driver’s license number, state identification card or photocopies of your form of identification.
The measure was met with resistance by Democratic lawmakers, who say the bill would make it more difficult for voters who do not have a driver’s license or state identity card to vote absent, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Under current law, voters in the state of Peach need only include their driver’s license number to apply for absentee ballots online, according to the AJC.
Georgia’s Democratic Senator Ed Harbison also expressed concern about the identity theft of voters who would have to submit more personal information to vote absent if the bill passed.
“I think you are trying to cure a problem in your mind. The truth is, I think you’re opening the door to privacy, ”said Harbison in a statement obtained by the channel.
State Senator Larry Walker, one of the Republicans who sponsored the measure, told the newspaper that “the purpose of this proposal is not to hinder legal voting, but to hinder illegal voting.”
“The public can trust and trust the integrity of our election results,” he said.
The approval of the bills came after state legislators also introduced a series of other bills related to the elections earlier this month. A portion of the bills would have a direct impact on how voting and electoral registration are conducted in the state, after record absentee voters participated during the November presidential election.
The legislation immediately drew the reaction of supporters of voting rights at the time, including Fair Fight, a national voting rights organization founded by former Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams.
Seth Bringman, a spokesman for the organization, called the series of laws an “unbalanced set of electoral suppression projects” in a statement at the time and said they were “designed to limit access and help Republicans stop losing elections” in Georgia “.