The Georgia House of Representatives approved a bill Monday, HB 531, restricting access to absentee ballots, early voting and ballot drop boxes. These new restrictions follow Joe Biden’s upset win of Georgia in November, as well as the wins of Senators Warnock and Ossof in January. Many have attributed the recent success of Democrats in Georgia to organizations like Stacey Abrams’s Fair Fight, which helped to register a large number of historically disenfranchised voters.

HB 531 cuts the amount of time that voters have to request a mail-in ballot by more than half, from 180 days to 78 days, and prohibits state and county governments from sending unsolicited absentee voter applications to voters in the state. These applications went out in recent elections as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would also require absentee voters to send in a copy of their ID with their absentee ballot application, replacing the current signature requirement.

The bill also restricts the hours and number of days for early voting. Polling stations would only be open from 9 AM to 5 PM, when many people are unavailable due to work. Moreover, weekend voting would be significantly curtailed. HB 531 would limit weekend voting to the second Saturday before the election and either the third Saturday or Sunday. This measure would devastate the traditional Souls to the Polls voting drives that Black churches do before elections.

Finally, this bill would limit the number of absentee ballot drop boxes available per county, restricting it to either one per 100,000 residents or the number of early voting locations, whichever is fewer.

This bill is set to advance to the Georgia Senate, which is also Republican-led.