Word of a new 93-page bill came about an hour before a scheduled hearing of a special election integrity committee in the Georgia House, and it set off outrage from voting rights activists who called it a “disgraceful” bait-and-switch tactic.
“They are attacking voting rights from every single angle,” Hillary Holley of Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group, said in a hastily arranged news conference.
Earlier in the day, the committee’s public agenda had described the hearing as centered on a two-page bill, dealing narrowly with absentee voting provisions — only to substitute it with the sweeping bill.
The unexpected move comes as the Georgia legislature hurtles toward the scheduled March 31 conclusion of its legislative session. The new package incorporates elements of other controversial voting bills that have already passed the state House and Senate — along with several new measures.
Some voting-rights activists singled out for criticism a provision that would give any Georgian the right to challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters. In the run-up to the January 5 Senate runoff elections, groups, such as the conservative organization True the Vote, sought to cast doubts of the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters.
“This is inviting people to interfere with the rights of voters,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said of the language in the new bill. “This is so reminiscent of any White person being able to say, ‘That Black person can’t vote.’ “
Georgia GOP state Rep. Barry Fleming, who oversees the committee and is guiding voting bills in Georgia House, did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.
But during Wednesday’s session, he said fellow lawmakers would have the chance to “discuss and ask questions” about the bill. “The committee will make the ultimate decision about what we do or don’t do,” he added. His committee is slated to resume work Thursday.
Georgia’s Republican-controlled…
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