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A federal judge has dealt a blow to Democrats and their allies in Hollywood, ruling that most of Georgia’s new voter integrity law is constitutional.
The law, which was passed in March, requires voters to show identification when they request an absentee ballot and imposes new restrictions on voting by mail. It also gives the state more power to remove inactive voters from the rolls and makes it a crime to offer food or water to voters waiting in line.
The law requires voters to present identification when voting, restricts early voting, and makes it a crime to provide false information when registering to vote.
Democrats and civil rights groups argued that the law would make it harder for people of color to vote, but U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled on Monday that there was no evidence that the law would have a discriminatory effect.
“Further, this Court finds that combining speech (in the cover information) with the conduct of sending an application form, as Plaintiffs do here, is not sufficient to transform the act of sending the application forms into protected speech,” the court wrote.
“Plaintiffs’ pro-absentee voting message is not necessarily intrinsic to the act of sending prospective voters an application form.
The judge also ruled that the law’s restrictions on voting by mail are constitutional because they are “narrowly tailored to further the state’s legitimate interest in preventing voter fraud.”
Democrats and civil rights groups have vowed to appeal the ruling.
“This is not the end of the fight,” Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, said in a statement. “We will continue to fight this unlawful law in court and pass legislation to protect our right to vote during this critical time.”
Hollywood stars, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Tom Hanks, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, had also filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law.
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision and we will continue to fight this attack on our democracy,” said Jimmy Carter, the former president who now heads The Carter Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, declined a request from Democrats to issue an injunction blocking the law from being enforced.
Major League Baseball canceled the All-Star game and Hollywood heavyweights called for a boycott of the state, but it looks like their efforts were for naught.
The only part of the law that was struck down was a provision that would have limited drop boxes for absentee ballots.
Democrats have been fighting tooth and nail to block voter integrity measures across the country, claiming that they are designed to suppress the vote.
However, there is no evidence that such laws have any impact on voting rates. In fact, turnout increased in Georgia after a similar law was enacted in 2017.
It’s time for Democrats to stop their election meddling and accept the fact that they lost fair and square. The American people are tired of their games.
