Democracy Under Assault? Voter Suppression Accusations Fly As GOP Passes New Laws In Georgia, Iowa

Republicans in Georgia and Iowa are moving forward with bills restricting voting and specifically targeting absentee ballots. Opponents assailed the proposals as transparent voter suppression, with organizations like the ACLU and Fair Fight Action pledging to do everything possible to stop them, CNN reports.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed her bill into law Monday. It reduces the early voting period from 29 to 20 days, as well as closing polls an hour earlier. Officials can no longer send absentee ballots that are not specifically requested, and mail-in ballots must be received before polls close to be counted.

Iowa Republicans characterized the bill as a simple measure to increase transparency and establish universal standards.

“This legislation strengthens uniformity by providing Iowa's election officials with consistent parameters for Election Day, absentee voting, database maintenance, as well as a clear appeals process for local county auditors," Reynolds said. "All of these additional steps promote more transparency and accountability, giving Iowans even greater confidence to cast their ballot."

Georgia’s voting bill is yet to be signed into law, with both state legislatures passing their own version. The most recent draft, passed Monday by the Senate, would require an excuse for a resident to request an absentee ballot.

The proposal provoked fierce in-fighting among Georgia Republicans, with some officials reluctant to curtail the mail-in voting that drove record turnout even during the pandemic. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who normally presides over the chamber, left in protest.

Any reluctant establishment Republicans, however, will have to contend with savage attacks from an alt-right base still convinced that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.

“The Republican base is united in this, and I dare Brian Kemp to veto a strong election security bill that comes to his desk," Debbie Dooley, an Atlanta tea party activist, told CNN. "He's in enough trouble as it is. I know a lot of Republicans that have pledged not to support him under any circumstance."

Following the 2020 election in which Republicans lost control of both Congress and the White House, state-level conservatives have begun a sweeping campaign to restrict voting. The Brennan Center found in February that 43 states considered a total of 253 bills to curtail voting rights, six times more than the same period a year prior.

Mail-in ballots, a key tool for the Democratic voters more likely to take the pandemic seriously, have been an especially common target. Some laws, like Georgia’s, have exceptions carved out for senior demographics more likely to vote Republican.

Kevin Morris, a researcher with the Brennan Center, noted that making senior status one of the valid reasons to request a mail-in ballot would disproportionately benefit white Georgians.

"It's an example of how a 'race-neutral policy' can end up having racially disparate impacts," he told CNN. "You don't have to use the word 'race' to carve up the electorate in racially disparate ways."