Georgia lawmakers pass election reform bill despite outcry.

ATLANTA >> Lawmakers in Georgia gave final passage Thursday to GOPsponsored legislation that seeks a sweeping overhaul of state election law, including provisions that would add new restrictions on voting by mail and giving the legislature greater control over how elections are run.

Democrats and voting rights groups complained the bill, which now heads to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his consideration, would disproportionately disenfranchise voters of color. It’s part of a wave of GOP-backed election bills introduced in states around the country after former President Donald Trump stoked false claims that fraud led to his 2020 election defeat.

Kemp has endorsed one prominent piece of the bill requiring a photo ID for absentee voting, but has otherwise refrained from publicly stating whether he would give it his signature.

Republican efforts to change voting laws in Georgia come after record-breaking turnout led to Democratic victories in the presidential election and two U.S. Senate runoffs in the once reliably red state.

The bill passed the state House 100-75, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. It then was quickly agreed to by Republicans in the state Senate.

Among highlights, the bill would require a photo ID in order to vote absentee by mail, after more than 1.3 million Georgia voters used that option during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also would cut the time period people have to request an absentee ballot and limit where ballot drop boxes can be placed and when they can be accessed.

One of the biggest changes in the bill would give the GOP-controlled legislature more control over election administration, a change that has raised concerns among voting rights groups that it could lead to greater partisan influence.