Georgia’s New Voting Law Aims to Restrict Black Vote, Justice Department Says
Race And Racism,Inequality,Georgia,Elections,Election Law,Voting Rights And Voter Fraud
The Biden administration sued the state of Georgia on Friday, alleging its new voting law aims to restrict the rights of Black voters, marking the administration’s first such challenge to Republican-backed efforts in multiple states to tighten voting laws.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Atlanta, alleges that Georgia violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act when it earlier this year enacted changes to the state’s election requirements, including altering how people cast absentee ballots and where people can drop off their ballots.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the new law in March after it was passed by the GOP-dominated legislature. Republicans said the changes amounted to common-sense efforts to restore confidence among voters in the integrity of Georgia elections following the 2020 presidential vote, in which some absentee-voting provisions were loosened.
After the vote, then-President Donald Trump made unfounded claims of election fraud and pressured a top Georgia election official and a staff member to reverse his loss in the state.
