House lawmakers pass restrictive voting bill

Mar. 1—ATLANTA — House lawmakers voted to pass an election overhaul bill that would restrict ballot drop boxes, limit weekend early voting and add additional absentee ID requirements, despite pushback that the measure makes voting harder in Georgia.

The bill, House Bill 531, passed the chamber 97-72 after lengthy of debate and hours of protests outside the state Capitol.

Republican lawmakers pitched the measure as an effort to boost "integrity" and "public confidence" after the majority party lost statewide bids to Democrats in the general and runoff elections. Falsehoods that the election was "stolen" — perpetuated by Donald Trump — spurred dozens of voting bills under the Gold Dome that opponents say seek to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

Election officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have repeatedly debunked claims that there was "widespread" voter fraud that would have changed the election results in Georgia.

Democrats opposing the legislation say that some provisions add obstacles to voting and target minority communities that saw record turnout in the last election cycle. The bill, they say, is retaliation for the Democratic sweep of federal level races.

The bill's sponsor Harlem Republican Rep. Barry Fleming said the legislation was just the first of likely many election reform measures to be brought before the General Assembly in the coming sessions. The Senate, too, has introduced it's own bills that vary from doing away with automatic voter registration through driver's services and ending no-excuse absentee ballot use altogether.

Fleming said on Monday that the bill was designed to make election administration "easier" for local elections officials and "begin an effort to restore confidence in our elections system."

"It is designed to put confidence back into the voters, with common sense ideas," he said on the floor.

But Democrats stood in emotional opposition, testifying that the general election was highly successful despite the added challenge of the pandemic and that efforts by their Republican colleagues to overhaul the system are disingenuous.

"Georgia has been a leader in providing voters more options to vote than most states," Riverdale Democrat Rep. Rhonda Burnough said. "So why would we undermine our own success? That is exactly what this bill does."

The measure also shortens the deadline to request an absentee ballot, bans passing out food and water to voters waiting in line at the polls and disallows private grants to be given to local elections offices.

Although Republicans have targeted mail-in voting with false allegations that it leads to fraud, Republicans have historically higher use of the voting method by their older constituents.

Outcry outside the Capitol

When lawmakers and staff entered the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, they were met by a group of Black Georgia voters in chains protesting the omnibus election bill.

As the House was scheduled to take a vote on the measure, a crowd stood for hours outside of the building in opposition to the bill that they say targets minority voters.

The voting system overhaul would do away with all but one varying weekend day of early in-person voting, a decision that advocates say would severely impact Black faith leaders who mobilize their communities on Sundays through "Souls to the Polls." It would also severely limit drop boxes, which offer a cost-free option to return ballots for low-income Georgians.

Dean Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, has been in the Georgia state legislature for nearly half a century. Smyre said he voted against the bill because he "stands with democracy."

"On more than one occasion, I have stated that voting is a precious right," he said on the House floor. "Many sacrifices have been made and many have died for the privilege to vote."

"This is a step in the wrong direction," Smyre added.

Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta, was among the few Democratic state lawmakers that received threats after debunking false election fraud claims during committee hearings after the election — meetings that served as megaphones for Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other far-right Republicans.

Nguyen said that Republican lawmakers are "legislating based on lies."

"Those of you who have chosen to remain silent have betrayed your constituents and the 5 million Georgians who voted in the November election," she said on the floor. "And now when we are all faced with a decision to tell the truth, you are choosing to support a bill that is so egregious that it is nationally known as Jim Crow, in a suit and tie."

Many protesters stood outside of the state Capitol in the rain since 5:31 a.m. Monday morning — a nod to the bill's number. Meymoona Freeman was among them.

"It's just that serious," she said.