Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed the Republican-backed “Election Integrity Act of 2021,” or SB 202, into law Thursday as Democratic lawmakers protested the bill.
The legislation seeks to tighten up elections and reduce fraud by enforcing conformity across the state, amping up voter ID, restricting drop boxes, and expanding in-person voting, among additional election-related overhauls.
“With Senate Bill 202, Georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible and fair,” Kemp said Thursday. “Ensuring the integrity of the ballot box isn’t partisan, it’s about protecting the very foundation of who we are as Georgians and Americans.”
The bill’s provisions add ID requirements for absentee-by-mail ballots; when Georgians return their ballots, they will be required to use a form of identification to verify who they are. As noted by NPR, this change “replaces the controversial method that has election workers match signatures on applications and ballot envelopes with those on file.”
SB 202 also expands in-person voting access, NPR noted: “Current Georgia law requires three weeks of Monday through Friday voting during ‘normal business hours’ and a mandatory Saturday session from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, with counties allowed to add more hours — including on the weekends — as they saw fit.”
Kemp’s signing of the bill sparked protesting from Democratic representatives.
Democratic Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested by the State Capitol Police during a protest against the passing of a controversial election overhaul bill.
Cannon reportedly knocked on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s door, as he was signing the 95-page long S.B. 202 bill passed by Georgia Senate Thursday into law, NPR reported. The Democratic representative’s actions interrupted Kemp’s prepared remarks, so the officers had to drag her out, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC).
A video posted on Twitter shows Cannon actively resisting two law enforcement officers escorting her out of the Georgia Capitol building. Democratic Rep. Erica Thomas and other anti-election reform bill activists can be seen loudly protesting the situation.
“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,” Thomas said, according to the report. “Too many people fought, bled and died for our right to vote.”
This is an excerpt from The Daily Caller.
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