Senate backs ID measure for absentee ballots

A proposal adding a requirement for more identification in the absentee ballot process became the first election measure to clear one of the two chambers of the Georgia General Assembly.

But there are many other bills working their way through the Legislature following last year’s heated presidential race.

The Senate voted mostly along party lines in passing the identification measure, Senate Bill 67. It would require voters to provide a driver’s license number, state ID number or a copy of photo ID when requesting absentee ballots.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Larry Walker, R-Perry, said all but 3% of Georgia voters already have a driver’s license number or state ID number on file, meaning they wouldn’t have to provide a copy of photo ID to vote absentee. Photo ID is already required of in-person voters.

“It’s not about disenfranchising voters. It’s not about overburdening the electorate,” he said. “It’s about efficiency and security.”

But state Sen. David Lucas, a Democrat from Macon, said the ID requirements would make absentee voting harder, especially for those who would have to make a copy of a photo ID to request an absentee ballot.

“Let’s make no mistake about what this bill is about: The election did not turn out the way you wanted it to,” Lucas told Republican senators. “We’re perpetuating this big lie of fraud.”

A series of bills have been filed following Republican claims of election insecurity that started with the misinformation campaign President Donald Trump waged following his loss in November.

State election officials have said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election, which they verified through multiple recounts and audits. Georgia senators were all elected in the same election, on the same ballot, and not one has claimed fraud in his or her own contest.

Many of the bills have targeted absentee ballots, a popular option for voters in 2020 who wished to avoid crowds in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 1.3 million of the 5 million votes cast in November in Georgia were by absentee ballot.

SB 67 is one of four bills supported by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan that the Senate passed last week.

The others are:

■ Senate Bill 40, which would require that the opening and scanning of absentee ballots begin eight days before election day.

■ Senate Bill 184, which would require records of who voted to be updated within 30 days after an election.

■ Senate Bill 188, which would prevent the public release of election results until the total number of ballots cast is posted on the secretary of state’s website.

Also passing the upper chamber was Senate Bill 89, which would allow the State Election Board to establish criteria for “low-performing” election offices and, if they don’t improve, to replace the local officials with new election superintendents indefinitely.