As Georgia voters decide who will be their next senator, the Department of Justice will be monitoring polls in four Georgia counties, the department announced Tuesday.
Officials in the Civil Rights Division will keep an eye on Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Macon-Bibb counties to ensure compliance with federal voting rights laws. The division frequently monitors elections in various jurisdictions across the country in keeping with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
TRUMP’S NO-WIN SITUATION IN GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFF
“Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the Civil Rights Division has regularly monitored elections in the field in jurisdictions around the country to protect the rights of voters. The Civil Rights Division enforces the federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all citizens to access the ballot,” the DOJ explained.
While it is not immediately clear why the DOJ is scrutinizing those four counties specifically, some of them are quite populous and have been caught in the crossfire of the 2020 election fallout. In Fulton County, the district attorney is currently investigating whether crimes were committed in the Trump-aligned efforts to overturn the election.
Georgia has weathered criticism over its stewardship of elections in the past. Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Stacey Abrams famously cast aspersions on her 2018 defeat, insinuating the rules of the game had been rigged and that voter suppression was rampant in the state.
Some supporters of former President Donald Trump have peddled dubious claims that the 2020 election in the Peach State was rigged. Those criticisms preceded Georgia passing an election reform bill that President Joe Biden suggested amounted to “backsliding into the days of Jim Crow.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
During the midterm elections, the state saw record-breaking midterm early voting turnout. Democrats have already clinched a threadbare majority in the lower chamber and are hoping Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) will defeat Republican Herschel Walker to expand on that.
