Republican state senators in Georgia are introducing a bill that would limit mail voting because they lost the 2020 presidential election and two U.S. Senate runoffs.
Georgia GOP state Senators want to legally decide who gets to vote and how they vote in new proposed bills. Democrats are calling the proposals unnecessary, alleging the bill was only created to advance the political party. They added that it would suppress legal votes, AP News reports.
The proposals mainly take shots at absentee voting by mail. This move comes after Donald Trump continuously made false claims of election fraud and voter fraud. Trump’s false rhetoric was shut down and confirmed as untrue. If the bill, which was introduced on Monday, passes, Georgia residents voting as absentee voters would have to provide a photo ID when casting their vote. Also, drop-off ballot boxes would be banned, and outside groups would no longer send out absentee ballot applications.
Other Republicans seek to end automatic voter registration when receiving a driver’s license, and new residents would not be allowed to vote in a runoff election, AP News reports. Senate Bill 71 would only allow absentee voting for those who are 75 or older, have a physical disability, or those who will be absent from their precinct on the date of the election. The bill does not highlight any specifics regarding a global pandemic situation.
One of the state Republicans that is co-sponsoring the bills is Sen. Butch Miller. Back in December, Senate Republicans announced they were plotting to implement new voting legislation once Joe Biden was sworn into office, responding to “the calls of millions of Georgians who have raised deep and heartfelt concerns” about November’s election results.
