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State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, is placed in the back of a Georgia State Capitol patrol car after being arrested by Georgia State police at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta, Thursday , March 25, 2021.
Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
A bill supported by the Republican Party of Georgia that will revise electoral protocols in the state was signed into law on Thursday.
The legislation includes new restrictions on voting by mail and increases legislative control over elections in the state.
Opponents say the move is an unnecessary reaction to former President Trump’s claims that widespread electoral fraud in the state led to his defeat in the 2020 election.
Georgia – a traditionally red state – narrowly voted for President Biden and two US Democratic senators in the midst of a record turnout in the last election cycle.
The new law limits the window in which absentee ballots can be requested and reduces the number of places and times of access to the ballot boxes.
The move also gives the Republican-led Senate and House more control over the electoral administration, including the option of appointing the electoral council president and removing and replacing county election officials.
The new law will also shorten the deadline for the second round of elections and prohibit groups from distributing food and water to voters.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was making comments after signing the bill when he was interrupted by ten protesters, including two lawmakers, outside his Atlanta office.
Kemp, a Republican, asked an aide “what the problem is” before the live broadcast of the ceremony went dark.
State Representative Erica Thomas, a black Democrat, was arrested after knocking on Kemp’s door during her speech.
The move was fraught with “voter suppression tactics,” said a senior Democrat.
“We are now witnessing a massive and blatant attack on voting rights, unlike anything we’ve seen since the Jim Crow era, said Senate minority leader Gloria Butler.
Wired AP