ATLANTA — The Georgia House voted Thursday to overhaul election laws after last year's close presidential election, with proposals including new absentee voter ID requirements, drop box limits and state takeovers of local elections management.
The 100-75 vote brings the far-reaching elections bill one step closer to final passage as lawmakers face a Wednesday deadline to finish their work, when this year's legislative session ends. Senate Bill 202 now returns to the state Senate.
The measure drew fierce debate and protests over voting rights in Georgia, with opponents saying it would disenfranchise voters and supporters arguing it would safeguard election integrity.
Democratic legislators said the bill would create obstacles to casting ballots. Absentee voters would be required to submit driver's license numbers or other documentation. In addition, there would as little as a week of early voting before runoffs since they'd be held more quickly after general elections, four weeks afterward instead of nine.
"It is unbelievable that there are still some people trying to stop people from voting today. You are changing the rules, cutting the voting hours, and making it more difficult for people to vote," said state Rep. Erica Thomas, a Democrat from Austell. "Too many people fought, bled and died for our right to vote."
Republican lawmakers supported the measure and said it would increase voter confidence following unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections. Recounts both by hand and machine showed that Democrat Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by about 12,000 votes.
"One of the things we looked at is a system that's broke. The Georgia election system was never intended to be able to handle the volume of votes that it handled," said state Rep. Alan Powell, a Republican from Hartwell. "We have a system that needs to be revamped."
The 95-page bill covers many aspects of voting access, ballot counting, election oversight and runoffs.
Besides requiring ID numbers to vote absentee, the bill would also restrict ballot drop boxes to inside early voting locations, limiting their usefulness.
Weekend voting before general elections would be expanded, with polling places open on two Saturdays statewide and counties given the option to allow early voting on two Sundays. But early voting time before runoffs would be reduced to a minimum of just one week before Election Day.
The bill also would allow the State Election Board to take over county election boards that it deems need intervention. Skeptics say that would allow Republican officials to decide which ballots count in majority Democratic counties.
In addition, the legislation sets a deadline to request absentee ballots 11 days before Election Day and disqualifies provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct. Distributing food to voters waiting in line would be prohibited.
Representatives from both parties said the legislation is about political power in advance of 2022 election, which could include a rematch of the 2018 contest for governor. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp will face opposition, potentially from Democrat Stacey Abrams.
"This is a partisan power grab in response to the electoral defeat in the 2020 election cycle," said state Rep. Carolyn Hugley, a Democrat from Columbus. "We will not stand idly by and let Jim Crow 2.0 roll back our new Georgia."
State Rep. Barry Fleming, a Republican from Harlem, said the bill will address problems in prior elections, but it will also be used as fodder for future political campaigns.
"The problem with this bill is it provides a method for somebody to start a campaign in 2022, and what we're trying to do is address the problems in 2018 and 2020," Fleming said. He encouraged representatives to vote in favor of the bill to "make voting more accessible and also more secure in Georgia."
Now that the bill has passed the House, it will continue to be debated by the state Senate, which is considering similar voting legislation.
