On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a significant decision regarding the controversial election overhaul in Georgia. She instructed the Justice Department to dismantle a lawsuit that challenged the sweeping changes implemented by Georgia Republican lawmakers following President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election. The lawsuit, initiated in June 2021 during the Biden administration, alleged that the new Georgia law was designed to restrict Black voters from accessing the ballot.
In her statement, Bondi criticized the Biden administration for promoting what she referred to as “false claims of suppression.” She emphasized, “Georgians deserve secure elections, not fabricated claims of false voter suppression meant to divide us.” This reflects a broader narrative among Republican officials who argue that measures designed to tighten voting regulations are necessary to ensure election integrity.
The Georgia law, commonly known as SB 202, was part of a nationwide trend of Republican-backed measures that aimed to tighten voting rules in the wake of the 2020 election. After Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that voter fraud influenced his defeat, states like Georgia implemented stricter voting regulations. The fallout from these changes was immediate, with significant backlash from major corporations and sports leagues. Notably, the CEOs of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola publicly criticized the law, and Major League Baseball made the decision to relocate its All-Star Game from Atlanta’s Truist Park as a form of protest.
Both Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Republicans who faced pressure from Trump, condemned the Justice Department's lawsuit when it was filed. In light of Bondi’s recent announcement, Raffensperger described the decision as “a significant win for Georgia voters.” He further stated, “Our commitment has always been to ensure fair and secure elections for every Georgian, despite losing an All-Star game and the left’s boycott of Georgia as a result of commonsense election law.”
The provisions of SB 202 include a voter ID requirement for mail-in ballots, a reduction in the timeframe for requesting such ballots, and a decrease in the number of ballot drop boxes in densely populated areas of Atlanta, which tend to lean Democratic and have a large Black population. Additionally, the law prohibits the distribution of food and water to voters standing in long lines, which critics argue disproportionately affects communities of color.
In her announcement regarding the lawsuit dismissal, Bondi noted that Black voter turnout in Georgia “actually increased” post-enactment of SB 202. However, a December analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice presented a more nuanced picture. It indicated that while the number of ballots cast by Black voters rose from 2020 to 2024, overall Black turnout saw a slight decline of 0.6%. This was attributed to the increase in ballots not keeping pace with the state's population growth.
The Brennan Center’s analysis highlighted the necessity of understanding the reasons behind these turnout trends, suggesting that various factors, including restrictive voting policies like SB 202, could be contributing to the decline. It emphasized, “Understanding whether, or to what extent, these declines are due to restrictive voting policies such as Georgia’s S.B. 202, justifiable feelings that the government is not working for them, or myriad other factors will be of signal importance.”
Alongside the Justice Department's lawsuit, multiple civil rights and election integrity groups have filed around half a dozen other lawsuits. These suits claim violations based on the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in voting. As the legal landscape evolves, the implications of Georgia's election law and its challenges will remain a focal point in the ongoing discussion about voting rights and election integrity in the United States.
