‘Falsehoods’ being spread about Ga. voting law
To the editor,
Why would you allow Fred McKinney to write false claims about Georgia’s new voting law (April 3 op-ed, “In fight over voting, choose more democracy”)?
Contrary to what he stated, the law does not add restrictions onto the voters of Georgia. They already have to show photo ID when they vote. This didn’t stop record turnout, including record minority turnout, in the 2020 election.
Why do we believe it will do so now? It adds a requirement that absentee ballot requesters supply a Georgia driver’s license number or state issued photo id number (available for free) on their requests and submitted absentee ballots.
If someone has neither of these they can use the last four digits of their Social Security number, hardly a severe restriction.
The new law also guarantees early voting access on at least two Saturdays prior to the election. It actually expands voter access by allowing for more early voting by law.
It does prohibit electioneering within 150 feet of a polling place, including offering food or drink to an elector (voter). It does not prevent water being made available to an elector or bringing their own.
Mr. McKinney does all of us a grave disservice by repeating the types of falsehoods promulgated by the Democrats and President Joe Biden. Even worse, Biden becomes the first president to call for an economic sanction against a state because he disagrees with a law they passed.
What other laws are there that he might not agree with? What states will be next up on the list? Interested readers can find the actual text of the Georgia law at legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/ document/20212022/201121. There’s no need to rely on talking points from partisans such as Mr. McKinney.
Mr. McKinney does all of us a grave disservice by repeating the types of falsehoods promulgated by the Democrats and President Joe Biden. Even worse, Biden becomes the first president to call for an economic sanction against a state because he disagrees with a law they passed.
Paul D. Hunter Norwalk