Georgia state senators this week passed legislation restricting absenteeism months after the reliable red state turned blue in the November elections following a record turnout of absent voters.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the bill, seeking to impose further restrictions on who can vote absent, was put forward by a senate subcommittee in a party-line 3-2 vote on Wednesday.
The measure requires a reason for each person to vote absent, such as “ be absent from his or her district during the primary, ” have a physical disability that prevents them from going to the polls, or is at least 75 years old.
As of now, the state does not require voters to have a reason to vote absent.
The bill is part of a series being pushed by GOP state legislators that proponents of voting rights say could make it more difficult for voters in Georgia to vote.
On Thursday, the Senate’s GOP-led ethics committee also passed a bill in a 7-4 vote that makes it mandatory for voters’ absence ballots to include their driver’s license number, their state identification card number, or photocopies of it. their form of identification.
The move was met by Democratic lawmakers who say the bill would make it harder for voters who don’t have a driver’s license or ID card to vote absent, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Under current law, voters in the state of Peach only need to provide their driver’s license number to request online ballots in their absence, AJC said.
Senator Ed Harbison of the Democratic state of Georgia also expressed concern about identity theft for voters who would have to email more of their personal information to vote absent if the bill passes.
‘I think you’re trying to solve a problem in your head. The truth is, I think you’re opening that privacy door, ” Harbison said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
State Senator Larry Walker, one of the Republicans sponsoring the measure, told the paper that “the purpose of this proposal is not to make it difficult to get a legal vote, but to make it more difficult to get a vote. Illegal vote. “
“The public can be confident in the integrity of our election results,” he said.
The passing of the bills comes after state lawmakers filed a number of other election-related bills earlier this month as well. Some of the bills would directly affect the way voting and voter registration is conducted in the state after it saw a record-breaking absentee turnout in the November presidential election.
The legislation at the time immediately drew backlash from voting advocates, including from Fair Fight, a national voting rights organization founded by former Democratic governor candidate Stacey Abrams.
Seth Bringman, a spokesperson for the organization, called the series of legislation an “unhinged series of bills for suppressing voters” in a statement, saying they “were intended to restrict access and help Republicans stop elections in Georgia. to lose”.