Major topic in the news this week is the attempt by the left to nationalize our election laws. Right now, in accordance with Article I Section 4 of the Constitution, states regulate their own federal elections. Congress is able to make alterations, but only through law. Georgia has been under fire for their changes (SB 202) with the President and Vice President making a recent trip to Georgia to give speeches in support of nationalizing election laws. As usual, the media are spinning the Georgia election laws because most of them aren't aware of the changes and lack the context for the changes. See the link for breakdown. A few key notes:
According to Fox News, these changes have not suppressed voter turnout, but actually increased voter turnout after looking at state/local elections late 2021. I have not been able to find accurate data to support this and it would be tough to compare 2021 to the 2020 Presidential Election when voter turnout is usually much higher. Probably take a few election cycles to accurately determine impact.
Regarding early voting hours, the left has cried foul since the polls must be open during normal business hours, from 9 to 5 compared to some locations that were open for 12 hours. This is where the left lacks the context. Locations can still stay open for 12 hours, however, in some of the very rural areas, local officials were only part time positions, so normal business hours were only 4 hours a day at best. Normal business hours of 9 to 5 were used to actually expand the time to vote in the rural areas.
Early voting will be held on two Saturdays and an option for Sundays...this compared to the previous one Saturday.
For absentee ballots, voters must provide a driver’s license or state ID number and if they lack either of those, they need to provide another form of identification such as a U.S. passport, military ID, utility bill or bank statement with their absentee application form. Mass mailings of absentee ballots to all Georgia residents are prohibited, but an excuse is not needed to request a ballot. Voter must request ballots at least 11 days prior to the election and must be received by COB on 2 Nov.
Drop boxes must also be inside early voting locations with 1 box per 100,000 voters with at least 1 box in each county.
You can read the article for the rest, question is, how does this compare to the other states?
