The U.S. Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit Friday against the state of Georgia over its new election integrity law, alleging that it is discriminatory and aims to restrict citizens from voting.
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, are scheduled to publicly announce the decision later Friday, according to multiple outlets.
Georgia’s legislation, enacted in March by the Republican-controlled state legislature and Republican Governor Brian Kemp, requires photo ID to vote by mail and cuts the time voters have to request an absentee ballot, limits use of ballot drop boxes, and empowers the state legislature with greater authority to oversee the election process.
After a 2020 election fiasco marked by voter fraud claims and delayed results, especially in Georgia, Republicans in the state spearheaded the bill to promote election confidence and transparency. However, Democrats cast the initiative as a suppression tactic to keep underprivileged communities and minorities away from the ballot box and prevent them from exercising their civic right to vote. Some Democrats compared the legislation to the Jim Crow-era laws designed to disenfranchise African Americans.
A numbers of voting rights groups, such as the New Georgia Project, the Black Voters Matter Fund and Rise Inc., have already challenged the law in court.
Garland’s anticipated announcement comes as a number of Republican-dominated states have enacted new voting laws aimed at restoring integrity and public trust in elections. Florida’s version curtails the mass-mailing of unrequested mail-in ballots, tightens signature requirements, and pushes in-person voting.
Source: National Review
