Democrat Party professionals and liberal-controlled media has pilloried Georgia’s new election laws as examples of suppressing black and minority votes. The reason Georgia restated many of their election laws is because they found fraud in administering the 2020 elections by the Democratic Party in counties where their Party had supermajorities of voters. Below are Democrat Party claims of new voter suppression laws and the truth about each subject
GA Requires voter identification for in-person voting more onerous than other states.
Georgia’s new election laws provide that registered voters need only show identification for their address, and the law includes many ordinary documents showing a reasonably current date for a residential address, such as a utility bill, credit card, bank statement, payroll check, student identification or the like. Fifteen states have similar requirements, seventeen states require no documentation whatsoever, and the remaining nineteen strictly require photo identification.
GA Requires voter identification when applying for absentee voting
Georgia is among the few states that do not require a reason for seeking to vote in absentia. When requesting an absentee ballot the law requires verification the applicant is a registered voter, so that an absentee ballot will not be sent to an unregistered voter. Data a registered voter will be asked to repeat is information already contained in the voter’s registration file, and is such that only the validly-registered person is likely to known it. Therefore, the application requests the last four digits of a known document such as a Social Security number or a current driver’s license number or State Identification card (free in Georgia).
GA Requires Eleven-days lead time prior to Election Day for Absentee Ballot Application
It is likely many states will increase their 2020 lead times because the US Postal System was not able to mailed applications in time to have a mailed return of a ballot before the Election Day had passed. Therefore, GA increased the number of days before Election Day for an application for Absentee Ballot to be received, whether by mail, in-person delivery or other means. That compares favorably with twenty-seven states that require the application for the ballot to be eleven or more days based on their 2020 laws.
Every state counts mailed-in ballots either if postmarked by one day before Election Day or received on Election Day.
GA Reduced the Number of Early-voting Days, and Eliminated Sunday in-person Voting
Before the Georgia election law changes adopted on March, 28, the polls were open one-hundred-eighty days before Election Day! This was reduced to seventy-eight days before Election Day. Only thirty-eight states even permit early voting. Five states (four of the five are blue states) strive to have all ballots cast only by mail. Also contrary to frequently repeated lies concerning Georgia election laws, it was alleged Sunday voting was eliminated. Not correct, the number of Sunday in-person days of voting was increased from one to two.
Georgia makes a misdemeanor offense of supplying food or water to voters waiting in line at Polling Places
I could not find a list of state-by-state election regulations, but I would be surprised if every state of the union lacked regulations having the effect of controlling “electioneering” by establishing an “electioneering-free zone.” New York’s restriction is 100 feet from the entrance to the polling place and prohibits anything of $1 value or more to be handed out. That is probably a reasonable interpretation of what is intended everywhere. Anyone may sell or hand-out food or water beyond 150 feet of the polling place entrance in Georgia.
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Years ago employers often sent employees a solicitation for money to be turned over to a candidate or political party chosen by the employer. It was of course said to be voluntary, but many employees were fearful that if they did not participate with money they would lose their job. Recently, the Chairman of Delta Airlines sent to all 86,000 Delta employees an email urging them to vote. If it were merely fulfilling a civic obligation to register and vote it would be fine. Ed Bastain said something more; alleging the State of Georgia’s excuse for the new Election Integrity Act of 2021 was to curb voter fraud. Bastain said it was to “make it harder for many underrepresented voters” [to] “exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives.” Bastian’s representations were false, and he relied upon third-party civil-rights sources for his information. His informers were incorrect.
Publiustoo.com May 7, 2021
