Justice Department suing Georgia over state’s new voting law

State Republican lawmakers are pushing back, pledging a forceful defense of Georgia’s law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Georgia over the state’s new election law, alleging Republican state lawmakers rushed through a sweeping overhaul with an intent to deny Black voters equal access to the ballot.

“Where we believe the rights of civil rights of Americans have been violated we will not hesitate to act,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday in announcing the lawsuit.

Republican lawmakers in the state pushed back immediately, pledging a forceful defense of Georgia’s law.

The Biden administration’s move comes two weeks after Garland said his department would scrutinize new laws in Republican-controlled states that tighten voting rules. He said the federal government would take action if prosecutors found unlawful activity.

Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, said he would contest the suit. The Republican official was harshly criticized by then-President Donald Trump and his allies for rebuffing efforts to challenge the outcome of the state’s vote in the 2020 election. Raffensperger largely supported the new law and faces a tough primary challenge from a congressman backed by Trump.

“The Biden Administration has been spreading lies about Georgia’s election law for months,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “It is no surprise that they would operationalize their lies with the full force of the federal government. I look forward to meeting them, and beating them, in court.”

Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., said in a statement that the suit was “born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed.”

He accused Biden and other Democrats of “weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy.”

While much of the more controversial aspects of Georgia’s new voting law were dropped before it was passed, it is notable in its scope and for newly expansive powers granted to the state over local election offices.

The bill, known as SB 202, also adds a voter ID requirement for mail ballots, shortens the time period for requesting a mailed ballot and results in fewer ballot drop boxes available in metro Atlanta — provisions that drew the challenge from the federal government.