ATLANTA, Ga. (CNN) – “An atrocity.” That’s what President Biden calls the new Republican-backed law in Georgia imposing new voting restrictions.
The bill quickly passed both chambers of the state’s legislature and was signed by the governor Thursday.
The signing of the sweeping law by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp sparked concern among voting rights advocates.
Democratic Georgia State Representative Erica Thomas said, “We are talking about things that are egregious and that are going to hurt the Georgians that we represent.”
The law, among other provisions, includes the following: adds new voter ID requirements for absentee voting, limits the number of ballot drop boxes, gives the state more power over local election boards, and makes it a crime to give voters standing in line food or water
Georgia Republicans call it the “Election Integrity Act.”
Governor Kemp said it’s “ensuring the integrity of the ballot box is not partisan.”
Georgia Democrats call it retaliation after former President Trump’s defeat there in November.
Black Votes Matter co-founder Cliff Albright said, “If this law was in place during the most recent election, then we would have had a very different outcome, in not just the presidential race, but both of the Senate races we had in January.”
Georgia is not alone. As of last month, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University counted more than 250 bills aimed at restricting voting, introduced in 43 state legislatures.
It’s seen by many as Republicans responding to former President Trump’s baseless claims about widespread electoral fraud in his 2020 loss.
President Joe Biden has condemned the efforts as “un-American” and “an atrocity.”
Biden stated, “This is nothing but punitive designed to keep people from voting. You can’t provide water for people about to vote. Give me a break.”
Senate Democrats and Republicans are currently at odds over federal voting rights legislation that would set baselines for all states.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.