Ga. gov signs election bill, met with protests
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp drew protests Thursday as he signed into law a sweeping Republican-sponsored overhaul of state elections that includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run.
Democrats and voting rights groups say the law will disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color. A group of voter mobilization groups filed a lawsuit late Thursday in federal court in Atlanta challenging the new law.
The Republican changes to voting law in Georgia follows record-breaking turnout that led to Democratic victories in the presidential contest and two U.S. Senate runoffs.
“After the November election last year, I knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,” said Kemp, who drew Trump’s ire after certifying Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Kemp signed the bill less than two hours after it cleared the Georgia General Assembly. The state House approved it 10075, before the state Senate quickly agreed to House changes, 34-20. Republicans supported it, with Democrats opposed.
As Kemp delivered his remarks, he was interrupted by a commotion before a livestream of the event cut out.
Democratic state Rep. Park Cannon, who is Black, was arrested by Capitol police amid a protest after knocking on the door of the governor’s office during his remarks.
Cannon was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement and with disrupting a session of the General Assembly. She was being held at the Fulton County jail, said an email from a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson, Lt. W. Mark Riley.