Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is doubling down on new election legislation with the signing of SB 189, bringing more changes to the Peach State's voting process as the 2024 presidential election hovers on the horizon. The new law paves the way for certain voter removals from the rolls, specifying conditions such as death, out-of-state voting evidence, or having a nonresidential address, according to details shared by WABE. Republican supporters claim the law will crack down on voter fraud, while opponents decry it as a direct hit to voting rights, potentially causing the disenfranchisement of many, especially the homeless whose shelter is tied to their voting precinct.
Haunting the bill's signing are the echoes of an election many Republicans still believe was stolen, as activists have taken to challenging voter eligibility with more than 100,000 calls into question in recent years. The bill stipulates probable causes for these challenges, including the controversial use of the National Change of Address list, though officials from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office suggest that driver’s license data might be a more reliable source to confirm voter eligibility. This comes at a time when Raffensperger has been removed from his non-voting spot on the State Election Board, continuing the partisan shuffle in Georgia's election oversight.
Freshly signed into law, the bill is on the verge of attracting lawsuits from liberal organizations. This is because it violates federal mandates by permitting voter roll purges up to 45 days before a federal election, disregarding the required 90-day safeguard. Additionally, the law peculiarly assigns homeless individuals to utilize county voter registration offices as their address, a move criticized by Fair Fight Action as an attempt to diminish the impact of Black and brown voters. Fair Fight Action expressed its dismay in a statement, asserting that by signing SB 189 into law, Brian Kemp has provided a boon to election deniers associated with MAGA.
Despite these possible hurdles, the legislation does offer opening lines to non-traditional candidates, as it eases the way for independent presidential hopefuls like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to grace Georgia's ballots. These candidates only need to have qualified for the presidential ballot in a minimum of 20 states or territories. On the technological front, the state is positioned to scrap QR code vote counting from July 1, 2026, bowing to pressures from those who mistrust a machine's silent tally in favor of human-readable marks.
However, not every proposed change was given the green light; Kemp vetoed another bill that tried to erect higher barriers against foreign nationals and their political contributions. The governor contended that the existing federal law already prohibits such donations. "We are committed to protecting Georgia voters and will see the governor in court," vowed Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, in opposition to SB 189's contentious points. While the fallout from Kemp's legislative moves remains to be seen, the stage is set for a contentious run-up to 2024's presidential showdown in this key battleground state, as reported by WABE.
