Justice Department announces challenge to Georgia's restrictive voting law
Voting Rights And Voter Fraud,Race And Racism,Inequality,Georgia,Elections,Election Law
The Justice Department announced Friday that it is suing the state of Georgia over its recently enacted voting restrictions.
"Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia’s election laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
The move is the first major federal enforcement action around the spate of Republican-led laws that have imposed limits on voting in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s election loss.
The Justice Department is asking the court to strike down parts of the law and require federal observers in Georgia for future elections. The suit also asks the court to require future preclearance for changes to voting laws in Georgia.
The Republican-controlled state government in Georgia imposed a set sweeping new restrictions earlier this year, many of them fueled by Trump's false claims that the 2020 election had been subject to rampant fraud.
Republicans have argued that the rules were needed to prevent fraud. Democrats have countered that the new laws are designed to suppress turnout, particularly among constituencies that historically vote for their candidates.
