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On Tuesday, Georgia’s Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan introduced a bill repealing no-excuse absentee voting, which 1.3 million Georgians used in 2020, including 450,000 Republicans. Under his proposal, only a small subset of voters, such as those who are out of town, disabled, or over 65 (a demographic that leans strongly Republican), will be eligible to vote by mail. The small percentage of Georgians who can still cast ballots by mail will have to get a witness signature on their ballot and attach a copy of photo identification, which requires access to a copier or printer. The new law would make Georgia one of the most restrictive states in the country for mail voting.
Georgia Republicans wrote every aspect of the state’s already stringent voting laws and for many years promoted mail voting, specifically exempting mail ballots from voter ID requirements because they didn’t want their own voters, who are older and more rural, to be disenfranchised. They abruptly had a change of heart in November, when more Democrats than Republicans voted by mail for the first time.
The state Senate bill comes on the heels of legislation introduced by Georgia House Republicans last week that would eliminate voting on Sunday, a measure seemingly designed to suppress Black turnout by targeting the Souls to the Polls get-out-the-vote drives organized by Black churches. The bill has been dubbed “Jim Crow with a suit and tie.” […]
THREE OTHER ARTICLES WORTH READING
The Gig Economy Is a Vampire That We Shouldn’t Make Peace With, by Hamilton Nolan. If organized labor doesn’t hold the line on the principle that workers are employees, we’ll all live to regret it.
The Phony Conservative Attacks on Child Credits, by Anne Kim. Joe Biden and Mitt Romney have interesting, important plans to help working mothers. Conservatives say this will reduce work. Oh, please.
Journalists and the Looming Superstorm of Climate Disinformation, by Andrew McCormick. With climate action on the table, disinformation is poised to get louder. What should journalists do about it?
TOP COMMENTS • RESCUED DIARIES
TWEET OF THE DAY
QUOTATION
“The Supreme Court 2013 ruling that gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act set in motion what many feared: the subjection of minorities, seniors, and low-income Americans to unfair, punitive barriers preventing them from exercising their most basic right as American citizens.”
~~Rep. Marc Veasey (2016)
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2012—Pew poll: Americans hate regulation, unless they know what it does:
You’ve got to hand it to conservative narrative-creator Frank Luntz and his Republicans. Hammer a theme long enough, and it sinks in. In this case, “job-killing” regulations, which a big chunk of Americans think is horrible. Check out the latest Pew poll:
Currently, 52% say government regulation of business usually does more harm than good while 40% think regulating business is necessary to protect the public interest. These views are similar to January 2008, before the financial crisis and onset of the economic recession.
Last March, opinion was more divided; 47% said regulating business is necessary to protect the public interest while 45% said government regulation does more harm than good.
Most of the difference between last year and now is among Republicans, spoon-fed by their elected representatives and becoming more and more entrenched in their fear and hatred of government. Three-quarters of them share the opinion that regulation does more harm than good, and 83 percent of self-identified conservative Republicans say regulation is harmful.
But the numbers really start to erode when the survey gets past the broad idea of regulation, and starts drilling down to what the term actually means.
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