Georgia’s New Voting Law Threatens the 2022 Midterms

In March, Georgia passed and signed voting law SB 202, and the world erupted. The bill was criticized by Democrats and voting rights advocates and lauded by Republicans as a necessary step to having secure elections. Months later, the law is in the news again after eight lawsuits against it were allowed to move forward.

But what exactly is in the voting law, and why is it so bad? 

SB 202, otherwise known as the Election Integrity Act, requires ID for absentee ballots. It scales back drop box access, especially in blue and minority areas. The bill restricts giving out food and water to those in line, reduces access to absentee ballots, restricts provisional ballots for those who showed up at the wrong precinct, and makes it easier for Republicans to take over elections.

The law requires counties to provide at least two Saturdays of early voting and provide Sunday voting. This adds another Saturday of early voting to many counties. However, most of the larger counties that tend to be more liberal and more diverse already offered two Saturdays. This means most Georgia voters already had two Saturdays of early voting, so this wasn’t an expansion for most of Georgia. And although banning Sunday voting didn’t make it into the final law, counties are not required to have Sunday voting either, meaning a number of them probably won’t. 

SB 202 expands the use of IDs. Now a form of ID is required for absentee voting. That means absentee voters must submit a driver’s license or state ID number or a photocopy of a different form of ID. Voter ID requirements are known to disproportionately affect BIPOC voters. 

Absentee voting also faces new regulations on drop boxes and requesting an absentee ballot. Georgia has had no excuse for absentee voting since 2005, but 2020 was the first time drop boxes were used. The law requires every county to have one drop box, but says drop boxes must be inside a voting location or clerk’s office, are only accessible during early voting hours, and there can only be one drop box for every 100,000 voters in a county. This severely cuts back on the number of drop boxes in larger counties, making them less accessible to liberal and minority voters. In addition, the deadline to request an absentee ballot is shortened from 4 days before election day to 11 days before. And instead of requests beginning 180 days before an election, voters have 78 days, less than half that time. This makes requesting an absentee ballot more complicated. 

Perhaps the most well-known provision of the bill is the ban of food and drink distribution to voters in line. While some argue this prevents potential influence on voters from campaigns, Georgia already outlawed campaigns or other groups from distributing or displaying campaign material within 150 feet from polling places or 25 feet from voters in line. When lines are hours long, the ban on volunteers or third-party groups handing out water or hot drinks can be incredibly onerous. 

The law also cracks down on provisional ballots. Before 5:00 pm, voters who showed up at the wrong precinct are to be directed to the right precinct, which extends the voting process, especially if lines are long and traffic impacts travel between polling locations. 

A less known but incredibly dangerous provision gives the state election board more powers. The chair and board members will be elected by the legislature, which is Republican-controlled. This means Republicans will have the power to suspend county or municipal superintendents. The superintendent does everything from certifying election results to handling polling place changes to hearing challenges to a voter’s eligibility. Suspension requires an investigation and hearing but consolidates power in partisan hands who have proven they don’t mind bending the rules a bit, and can last nine months. 

Another scary provision allows voters to challenge the qualifications of another voter to cast a ballot. These challenges are unlimited and could make it difficult for voters to prove their eligibility, something that will inevitably lead to some choosing not to go through the process. 

We are already seeing the impact of this law. Half of the absentee ballot requests were rejected due to arriving past the deadline, giving voters a week less to submit requests. Only a quarter of voters whose request was denied ended up voting in person. Additionally, the rate of requests rejected more than doubled. This law has proven to make absentee voting more complicated, making it harder to vote.

But the law has gone far beyond that in a more insidious way. The law has allowed for the takeover and restructuring of County Boards of Elections, shifting power to Republicans. These boards are now whiter and more conservative and are hurting minority voters. SB 202 allowed the State Election Board, which Republicans control, to take control of county boards they deem to be underperforming. Republicans have reorganized six county boards, expanding their power over choosing election boards. Local county commissions now have the ability to appoint some or all of the election board members. Again, these commissions are controlled by Republicans. The previous system had appointments split evenly between local Democratic and Republican parties or controlled by a different local entity. The intent was to create a non-partisan or politically balanced board.

These boards oversee polling locations and early-voting procedures and have power in provisional-ballot tallies, audits, and recounts. So they have the power to impact turnout, leave minorities out of the process, and challenge results they don’t like. One county has banned Sunday voting, predominantly used by Black voters as a part of the “Souls to the Polls” initiative. Another seeks to consolidate seven precincts into one polling location for an entire county. In one county, the supervisor has publicly endorsed Trump’s Big Lie. These changes to election boards may be devastating in the 2022 midterms and to voting rights for all Georgians. 

Luckily, there are a ton of lawsuits challenging this law. In all, eight lawsuits have been filed against the law, including one from the Department of Justice. The lawsuits allege that the law violates the US Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, they say that the legislation causes discrimination, places an undue burden on the right to vote, creates unnecessary voting requirements, and abridges the freedom of speech and expression. 

US District Court Judge JP Boulee heard a motion to dismiss the lawsuits. The motion was brought by the state of Georgia, which said that the claims had no standing and should be dismissed on merits. Judge Boulee did not agree with those arguments and said that the plaintiffs “have stated a plausible discriminatory purpose claim” and allowed all parts of all eight lawsuits to move forward. 

It’s important to remember that this doesn’t mean that the law will be struck down; it just means that the cases against the legislation were found to have merit and were allowed to move forwards. As a result, they will soon be heard for the intent of ruling on whether SB 202 violates federal law. 

The entirety of SB 202 may be declared in violation of federal law and struck down. It is also possible only certain provisions will be ruled against. But we will just have to wait for that ruling. It may be a couple of months until we see a ruling. 

If this law is not struck down, the midterms in Georgia will be defined by Democrats’ work to overcome the new voter suppression tactics. We will also likely see significant efforts to overturn election results by new county boards of elections. A lot is at stake in these midterms, so we must do all we can to ensure Georgia has free and fair elections. 

For now, there isn’t much to do, but to ensure that if this law is not overturned, Democrats still have a shot at winning these races. We must get out and organize. Make sure you vote and that everyone you know does too. Make certain people understand how important it is Georgia elects Democrats up and down the ballot. And you can join Rideshare2Vote in ensuring that a ride to the polls isn’t a barrier for anyone.

by Betsy Zalinski