Tighter ID Requirements For Absentee Voting Passes GA Senate

ATLANTA, GA — A Republican-backed bill requiring extra ID for absentee voting — and that Democrats say amounts to voter suppression — passed Tuesday in the Georgia Senate, mostly along party lines.

Under Senate Bill 67, Georgians would have to provide their driver’s license number, a state ID number or a copy of photo ID when requesting an absentee ballot. Currently, all a voter has to supply is a signature and registration information.

Spurred by narrow Democratic wins in Georgia for both president and U.S. senator, Republicans who support the bill cite possible voter fraud as reason to tighten ID requirements. Besides, 97 percent of Georgians already have drivers’ license or state-ID numbers on file anyway, according to state Sen. Larry Walker of Perry, who sponsored the bill.

“It’s not about disenfranchising voters. It’s not about overburdening the electorate. It’s about efficiency and security,” said Walker, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Democrats, who say the requirements would discourage absentee voting, beg to differ.

“Let’s make no mistake about what this bill is about,” said Democratic state Sen. David Lucas. “The election did not turn out the way you wanted it to.”

More than one in four of Georgians cast absentee ballots in the Nov. 3 election, in which Democrat Joe Biden beat Republican Donald Trump by about 11,000 votes.

The bill to tighten absentee-voting ID requirements is one of four that passed Tuesday. The other three are:

• Senate Bill 40, sponsored by state Sen. Jen Jordan, an Atlanta Democrat, would authorize election officials to open and count absentee ballots before election day. Currently, officials have to wait until polls are closed.
• Senate Bill 184, sponsored by state Sen. Bill Cowsert, a Republican from Athens, would require counties to reconcile vote counts with the state within 30 days of an election. Currently, counties have 60 days.
• Senate Bill 188, also sponsored by Cowhert, would require that counties report the number ballots cast — both absentee and in-person — when polls close.

These bills now have to be approved by the Georgia House of Representatives.

“Last month I committed that I would only support common-sense election reforms, and would work to modernize our election procedures to keep pace with changes in the way Georgians vote,” Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said in a statement released Tuesday. “I am focused on maintaining confidence in our electoral process and making it easy to vote and difficult to cheat. I am proud of this bi-partisan package and the hard work of the individual bill sponsors. I look forward to the entire package reaching the Governor’s desk.”

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