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Georgia Senate GOP introduces bills to limit mail voting

Brad Raffensperger
Posted at 6:01 PM, Feb 02, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-02 20:01:13-05

Republicans in Georgia’s state Senate are seeking new limits and requirements before people can vote.

They're taking action after Democrats won the presidential election and two U.S. Senate runoffs in the once reliably red state. Democrats say the bills are unnecessary, politically motivated and will suppress legal votes.

The GOP wants to restrict who can vote absentee by mail. They would require a photo ID for those who do vote by mail, ban ballot drop boxes and block outside groups from sending out absentee ballot applications.

Republicans also want to end automatic voter registration when obtaining a driver’s license and ban new residents from voting in a runoff election.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, 1.3 million Georgia voters sent a ballot by mail. Of those voters, President Joe Biden won by a nearly two-to-one margin.

Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock also won their respective runoffs largely due to the influx of mail-in ballots.