A handful of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Georgia officials over the election reform bill signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.
At the heart of the lawsuit is S.B. 202, the omnibus election bill that passed through the state legislature and was signed into law by Kemp on March 25.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Southern Poverty Law Center, and multiple law firms filed the suit in the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division on behalf of a handful of groups, including the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Women Watch Afrika, Latino Community Fund Georgia, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
BRIAN KEMP SIGNS SWEEPING ELECTIONS BILL INTO LAW
The bill would expand early voting for primary and general elections but not for runoffs, and it would shorten the time period between a general election and a subsequent runoff if one were necessary.
It would also change how voter identification works for mail-in voting and alter the use of drop boxes, which would have to be placed inside voting locations and only be accessible when those locations are open. Among other changes, it would give state officials authority to take over local elections boards and make it a crime to approach voters in line to give them food and water.
“This action seeks to redress the deprivation, under color of state law, of rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” the suit claimed.
Proponents of the bill argue it will streamline elections and will increase voter confidence. Conversely, liberal opponents of the bill accuse Republicans of trying to suppress voters, specifically minorities, and they claim that the push for such legislation is in response to oft-repeated false claims that undermined confidence in the 2020 election.
“This law is driven by blatant racism, represents politics at its very worst, and is clearly illegal,” said Sophia Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “We urge the court to act swiftly to strike it down.”
The lawsuit claims the bill violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and infringes upon Georgians’ First, 14th, and 15th Amendment rights.
“Legislators and Governor Kemp ignored the very obvious lessons from the election in 2020 and runoffs in 2021: expand safe and secure access to the ballot, codify innovations to voting, and provide additional resources to cash-strapped counties,” said Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director for the SPLC. “Instead, to appease conspiracy theorists and amplify deadly lies about past elections, Georgia’s leaders have chosen to pass into law S.B. 202, which makes it more difficult for every Georgian — but particularly Georgians who are members of historically disenfranchised communities — to vote in a safe, secure, and convenient manner and have that vote counted. In so doing, the defendants have violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution, and we turn to the federal courts and U.S. Congress to address the incredible harm S.B. 202 will have on our clients.”
Kemp, in response to criticism from President Joe Biden, said the bill “expands voting access, streamlines vote-counting procedures, and ensures election integrity.”
The governor pushed back on liberal activists’ claims that the bill is tantamount to Jim Crow laws.
“As Governor, I won’t back down from keeping Georgia elections secure, accessible, and fair,” he added.
This is not the only lawsuit filed against Georgia officials regarding the election changes.
The New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter Fund, and Rise filed a separate lawsuit on March 25 in the U.S. District Court Northern District. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Vice Chairwoman of the Georgia State Election Board Rebecca Sullivan, and Georgia State Election Board members David Worley, Matthew Mashburn, and Anh Le were named as defendants.
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The battle in Georgia regarding election reform is a microcosm happening in states across the country following the 2020 election. The House passed an election reform bill, but it would need a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes to pass.
Forty-three states have carried over, pre-filed, or introduced a total of 253 bills that would restrict voting access as of February, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, while there were more than 700 bills filed to expand voting rights in a different set of 43 states.
