The Georgia state Senate on Monday narrowly approved a bill aimed at repealing no-excuse absentee voting, over a decade after Senate Republicans first voted to enact it.
The new legislation, SB 241, seeks to “comprehensively revise elections and voting” within the state. In a 29-20 vote, the Senate limited absentee voting exclusively to: (1) people 65-years-old and older, (2) people with documented physical disabilities, (3) people required to be outside of their voting district during the election period, (4) people working the elections, and (5) qualified military/expat voters. Beyond significantly curbing absentee voting, the bill also institutes new ID requirements for even requesting an absentee ballot. It also creates a new “voter intimidation and illegal election activities hotline.”
Monday’s vote comes 16 years after Georgia Republicans first introduced the state’s no-excuse voting policy, enacted as part of the 2005 legislative package. HB 244 was a 59-page bill containing more than 60 revisions to state election code, including two major changes: the addition of a photo ID requirement for in-person voting, and the creation of no-excuse, ID-less, mail-in voting. Today, however, Republicans assert that action is necessary to prevent voter fraud.
Notably, Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, the president of the Senate, declined to preside as the legislative body debated SB 241. He has repeatedly opposed the bill “and other extreme measures proposed by fellow Republicans in his chamber.”
The Georgia Senate is now debating sweeping elections restrictions. Lt. Gov. @GeoffDuncanGA is intentionally not on the floor — he refuses to be the presiding officer on a measure he opposes. #gapol pic.twitter.com/ql9DjXxA9v
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 8, 2021
Following the November election, former president Donald Trump and other top Republicans questioned the legitimacy of more than 1.3 million absentee ballots cast by Georgians. A federal court then denied Trump’s attempt to stop the certification of Georgia’s election results. President Joe Biden won the state by just over 12,000 votes, marking the first time Georgia voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992.
After an extensive independent audit, Georgia election officials found not a single instance of fraudulent absentee voting. Georgia lawmakers have since introduced more than 20 bills seeking to restrict voting access, according to the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice.
