President Joe Biden called a sweeping electoral law signed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp this week an “atrocity” and said the Justice Department was “examining” the measure.
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President Joe Biden called a sweeping electoral law signed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp this week an “atrocity” and said the Justice Department was “examining” the measure.
The new law includes provisions requiring the identification of voters for postal ballot papers, restricting the use of ballot boxes, giving state officials more power over elections, and making it a crime to offer voters food and water while they stand in line.
Critics argue that the law disproportionately affects black voters, who have been critical of recent democratic victories. Mr Biden narrowly won the state in the 2020 election, and Georgia sent two Democrats to the Senate after a runoff in January.
When asked by reporters on Friday how the White House might react to the bill, Mr. Biden said, “We are working on it.”
“We don’t know exactly what we can do right now. The Justice Department is looking at that too, ”said Biden.
He told reporters that the bill was an “atrocity”.
“It has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency. You passed the law that says you can’t provide water to people who are waiting in line while they are waiting to vote? You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing more than punishment to keep people from voting. Can’t provide water to the people who are entitled to vote? Give me a break, ”he said.
In a statement released Friday, the president called on Congress to pass a voting law that contradicts Georgian law and other bills proposed by Republican lawmakers across the country that would make voting difficult.
“This bill, like so many others persecuted by Republicans in state houses across the country, is an blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience,” Biden said. He found that longer polls in elections disproportionately affected black voters in metropolitan areas as Republican officials reduced the number of polling stations in their neighborhood.
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century. It has to end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act. I again urge Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make ballot boxes easier for all eligible Americans and prevent attacks on sacred suffrage, ”Biden continued.
The House recently passed the For the People Act, a comprehensive law dealing with elections and elections, as well as campaign finance reform. However, it is unlikely to happen in the Senate, where most Republicans have voiced their opposition to the law. Democrats only have a 50-seat majority in the Senate, and most laws require 60 votes to move forward.
Even if the Democrats eliminated the filibuster, which would lower the threshold to a simple majority, some Democrats have also raised concerns about the bill. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said this week that he believes the law should be narrowed and Democrats and Republicans should try to pass the franchise law bipartisan. Manchin is also against ending the filibuster.
In a letter to Democratic counterparts Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate Judiciary Committee would soon take up the John Lewis Suffrage Act, which would restore the provisions of the 1965 Supreme Court-defeated Suffrage Act. As with the For the People Act, 60 senators are unlikely to get the assistance they need.
Meanwhile, Republicans argue that Georgia law does not represent voter suppression. Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger said that “the cries of ‘voter suppression’ from those on the left ring are hollow.” Kemp said it made elections safer.
“It’s not ‘Jim Crow’ to ask for a photo or state-issued ID in order to be able to vote by absenteeism. Every Georgian voter has to do this when they vote in person, ”Kemp said on Friday.
