There were many mistakes in the optics of the signing of the Election Integrity Act in Georgia but the bill itself is not controversial. First, the problems. Many election board officials throughout the state support and lobbied for the changes that were made. Ideas from Democrat supported bills were included. However, in the hearings leading up to the passage of the Election Integrity Act, Democratic members of the minority did not offer one amendment to change the bill according to Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega.
The way to have avoided the optics of the signing and the arrest of Rep. Cannon outside the Governor’s office would have been to take 24 hours, get a large group of supporters of the bill to the capitol and show that the group of people supporting it “looked like Georgia.” But optics are not policy and the policy in the bill is expanding, not contracting voting rights. But the Democrats would have none of this, they decided before the bill was passed, they were going to oppose it. It did not fit the narrative.
Reporter Stephen Fowler gave a thorough analysis of the bill but here are some of the high points. There is still “no excuse” absentee balloting, drop boxes are now codified in law (the use of drop boxes was a result of the emergency powers of the Governor related to Covid and would have disappeared when the emergency powers ended), absentee ballots are more secure and there is ID required. Early voting has been expanded as far as days available but in a shorter time period, runoff cycles are shortened and no more jungle primaries. All of these things were needed and do not suppress voting.
I expect there to be long litigation on this.
Take a moment, read the bill or a good analysis of it and if you still think it’s suppression, mount a campaign to unseat your representative. Also, watch this analysis of Delaware law by Karl Rove and then let’s have a conversation.
