Massive election bill gains approval from Georgia House

Voting has been the dominant issue so far of the legislative session, and this past week saw one of the biggest of all such bills clear the House.

House Bill 531, among other things, would limit ballot drop boxes to locations inside early voting locations, reduce “Souls to the Polls” voting events to one Sunday during early voting and require some form of ID to request absentee ballots.

Lawmakers in 43 states are considering over 250 bills that would increase restrictions on voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a policy institute at New York University, and Georgia can count itself as a national leader, with dozens of such bills in the works.

The bills were spurred by a nationwide debate over election access and security rooted in Republican Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud following his failed bid for reelection as president. Legislative Republicans in Georgia who support Trump’s claims have expressed no problems with the results of their own General Assembly races held during the same election.

Election officials, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have said there’s no evidence of widespread fraud that could have overturned the election, and the results were verified by recounts and audits.

HB 531 won passage in the House on a vote along party lines of 97-72.

Democrats who opposed HB 531 said it would suppress voting.

“Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly are trying to change the rules of the election here in Georgia, rules that you wrote, because you were handed defeat,” said state Rep. Kimberly Alexander, a Democrat from Hiram.

GOP legislators countered that HB 531 is needed to restore faith in the state’s elections by increasing their security.

“The way we begin to restore confidence in our voting system is by passing this bill,” said state Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem. “There are many commonsense measures here to begin that process.”

He’s right that there are many measures in HB 531. It would:

■ Limit Sunday voting to one optional Sunday in each county.

■ Restrict the use of ballot drop boxes by requiring them to be located inside early voting locations.

■ Require a driver’s license number, state ID number or copy of photo ID to vote absentee.

■ Set a deadline to request absentee ballots 11 days before election day.

■ Disqualify provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct.

■ Ban outside funding of elections from nonprofit organizations.

■ Prohibit governments from mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications.

■ Create instant-runoff voting for military and overseas voters.

■ Schedule runoffs four weeks after election day rather than the current nine weeks.

■ Prevent free food and drinks for voters waiting in line to vote.

■ Restrict early voting buses to emergencies.