ATLANTA: Republican lawmakers in Georgia’s state House on Thursday introduced a sweeping election bill that would place restrictions on absentee voting and ban counties from holding early voting on Sundays, a popular day for Black churchgoers who vote during Souls to the Polls events.
The bill comes after Black voters and a surge in absentee ballots helped Democrats win the presidential election and two U.S. Senate runoffs in the once reliably red state.
House Bill 531 would require a photo ID for absentee voting, limit the time when an absentee ballot could be requested, restrict where ballot drop boxes could be placed, ban counties from holding early voting on Sundays and restrict the use of mobile voting units, among many other changes.
Fair Fight, a voting rights group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, said on Twitter that the proposal would have devastating consequences for voting rights in Georgia and raises too many concerns to count.
Several Democrats and voting rights…