Expanding or suppressing voting rights?

Re: “House passes sweeping voting rights bill,” March 4 news story and “Georgia Gov. Kemp signs GOP election bill amid outcry,” March 26 nes story

Republicans oppose “federalizing” elections. But a glance at the specific differences between the federal bill and the election laws passed in Georgia reveal their true motives.

The new Georgia law criminalizing the handing out of water to voters in line is getting most of the attention, but the law has many other voter-suppression tactics baked in. Georgia voters must provide identification to vote absentee instead of signature matching. There’s a shorter window to request an absentee ballot. Ballot drop boxes are available during limited times, not 24/7. The law allows only one dropbox per 100,000 residents.

Voters can challenge an unlimited number of other voters’ registrations. Ballots cast by voters in the wrong precinct are less likely to be counted. Federal law would guarantee voters same-day registration and limit how states can purge voter rolls.

The Georgia law strips authority from the elected Secretary of State, who can no longer even vote on the State Election Board; now the Republican legislature appoints a chair. That board can suspend election superintendents in Democratic strongholds. Election offices cannot send out unsolicited absentee ballot applications or run mobile voting buses, as Fulton County did last fall. The federal bill expands popular mail and early voting, creates automatic voter registration, and allows former felons to vote. I’m less concerned about “federalizing” elections than I am about voter suppression!

Chris Mohr, Denver The Georgia legislators feel the need to cheat in order for their Republicans to stay relevant in elections.

Their approach to managing their political losses in the last election is to strip voters of their rights, limit voting access and locations, suppress turnout, even banning anyone from handing out water to people standing in line to vote.

You know they’re going extreme when you can’t even hand someone waiting in line to vote bottled water on a hot day.

The Democrats need to go big in response to these unconstitutional actions. Make D.C. a state, pack the Supreme Court as Mitch McConnell has done, retire the Senate filibuster, pass voting rights legislation to secure every American is registered at 18, and mandate that the choice to mail in ballots is secured in every state.

That way, you won’t have to stand in line on a hot day in Georgia where Republicans will have you arrested if you hand someone your bottled water.

Susan Altenhofen, Fort Collins