Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reacted harshly Friday to news that U.S. Justice Department officials, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, will sue the Peach State over its new voting law Senate Bill 202.
“The Biden Administration continues to do the bidding of Stacey Abrams and spreads more lies about Georgia’s election law,” Raffensperger said on Facebook Friday.
“Their lies already cost Georgia $100 million and got the President awarded with four Pinocchio’s. It is no surprise that they would operationalize their lies with the full force of the federal government. I look forward to meeting them, and beating them, in court.”
U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA-10), who wants to replace Raffensperger next year — with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement — said Friday the lawsuit is absurd.
“The left will stop at nothing to take over our elections,” Hice wrote on Facebook.
“This is just another example of why it is critical Georgia elects a Secretary of State who we trust to stand up to the Biden Administration and their weapon — the DOJ.”
U.S. Justice Department officials announced on their website Friday that they filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia, the Georgia Secretary of State, and the Georgia State Election Board over SB 202, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in March. The United States’ complaint challenges provisions of SB 202 under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
“The United States’ complaint contends that several provisions of Senate Bill 202 were adopted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race,” according to the U.S. Justice Department.
“The Justice Department’s lawsuit alleges that the cumulative and discriminatory effect of these laws—particularly on Black voters—was known to lawmakers and that lawmakers adopted the law despite this.”
Kemp, meanwhile, said on Facebook Friday the “lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia’s Election Integrity Act from the start.”
“Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress – and failed,” Kemp said.
“Now, they are weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy. As Secretary of State, I fought the Obama Justice Department twice to protect the security of our elections – and won. I look forward to going three for three to ensure it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia.”
Meanwhile, former State Rep. Vernon Jones, who is running for governor and has promised an aggressive campaign next year to unseat Kemp, also opined on the matter.
“Joe Biden’s DOJ is suing the state of Georgia because they think black people are too damn dumb to secure a Voter ID and properly vote,” Jones wrote on Facebook.
“This is racism at its worst.”
Georgia’s new voter reform requires, among other things, voter ID on all absentee ballots, increased oversight of local election boards that fail to follow state election law, and secured drop boxes around the clock.
The November 2020 election, according to Kemp, saw a 350 percent increase in the use of absentee balloting, more than 1.3 million absentee ballots total compared to election day in 2018.
“This obviously led to local election workers having to process far more ballots using a time-consuming, labor-intensive and at times arbitrary process,” Kemp said earlier this year.
“By moving to a state-issued ID requirement instead of a signature match, Georgia will dramatically streamline the verification process on the absentee ballot.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Brad Raffensperger” by Brad Raffensperger. Background Photo “Georgia Capitol” by Autiger. CC BY-SA 2.0.
