Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a sweeping bill last week that overhauls his state’s election laws.
The new election laws, in part, would require a photo ID in order to vote by absentee ballot, would limit the number of drop boxes, and replace the elected secretary of state as the chair of the state election board with a new appointee of the legislature after Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger politically went after Donald Trump.
***News Junkie? Stay Informed With Our FREE Mobile App***
In response to this major move, Joe Biden threatened to have his own Department of Justice get involved and possibly take action against Georgia for legally passing legislation through their state House and Senate.
“We don’t know quite exactly what we can do at this point. The Justice Department’s taking a look as well,” he said as he talked to reporters outside the White House.
The Daily Mail reported:
The new laws have come under attack and civil rights groups are challenging them in court. But the strongest words have been reserved for the president who called them an ‘atrocity’ of a law and said the U.S. Justice Department was ‘taking a look’.
Among other limits, the Republican-backed law imposes stricter identification requirements, limits drop boxes and gives lawmakers the power to take over local elections and shortens the early voting period for all runoff elections.
It also makes it a misdemeanor for people to offer food and water to voters in line, in a state where people sometimes wait for hours in the heat to vote.
The legislation has alarmed Democrats, who just months ago celebrated historic wins in the presidential election and two Senate campaigns in Georgia that helped deliver the White House and U.S. Senate control to their party in Washington.
Biden and his allies claim the new election laws are designed to suppress the vote.
“’It has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency. They passed the law saying you can’t provide water for people standing in line while they’re waiting to vote? You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. You can’t provide water for people about to vote? Give me a break,” Biden said.
He believes that Republicans in other states will copy the Georgia model and accused them of launching an attack on voting rights.
“This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country, is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience,” he said.
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act. I once again urge Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make it easier for all eligible Americans to access the ballot box and prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote,” he said.
No one has given a good explanation as to why showing identification proving that you are eligible to vote is akin to “Jim Crow,” but it must sound like a winning plan as Democrats keep making the accusation.
***Claim Your “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Trump” shirt for just $10!***
This bill is a huge win for Republicans and those who support protecting elections.
Which is why Democrats are so angry about it.
