In Defense Of Georgia’s New Anti-Fraud Voting Legislation
Well, it didn’t take Progressive zealots long to attack Georgia’s legislative efforts to help restore voter confidence, hoping that the coming 2022 election will be fair and hopefully far more free from any potential fraudulent influence.
Politicians and other activists were quick to fault the new law’s provisions by falsifying them, claiming that it was all about “suppressing” the vote, and then, of course, came the ever-present echo claiming that “racism” was the primary motivator in the revisions. Racism, but not fairness. The liberal media (i.e., virtually all of it at the national level) were quick to assume their now-accustomed position as mega-phoned cheerleaders for whatever the left desires.
Progressives see no value in requiring us to verify that those wishing to vote are properly and legally able to do so. That means all voters, going forward, must provide a valid government ID, which is most often a state driver’s license with photo, or a readily available, at no charge, ID card from any local government, or apparently even the last four digits of one’s social security number. All of these foolish objections to having to properly identify oneself, when such is required today for virtually every activity. How then do the objectors do just about everything in their daily lives without some form of officially recognized ID. And we’re not talking about cashing a check or going to the doctor’s office. We’re talking about the sacred privilege, and responsibility, of casting a legal vote for individuals who will represent and govern us within our city, state or nation.
Apparently, at least some outspoken Progressives aren’t content for American citizens to have completely free and fair elections, or to at least make that the aim. One indication that such really is not the goal is the reality that in some states (California), when an illegal resident obtains a driver’s license, which is actually permitted there, that person is also automatically registered to vote. To vote in a U.S. election as an illegal. In elections that are supposed to be reserved for citizens only. So, it’s not illegals that Progressives are worried about with the legal ID requirement. Those driving already have such!! And we ultra-liberals welcome your illegal vote, because we care…about ourselves.
The requirement of a government ID number is to help ensure that absentee ballots are legally requested and legally submitted to be properly counted. It is the absentee ballots that can be a source of fraud, especially with mass mailings to potential voters, whether requested or not, and then “harvested” by “helpful” partisan ballot collectors, done far from the inconvenient eyes of election officials.
Henceforth, voter “drop boxes” (300 of them were placed around the state in 2020) will only be permitted within public-accessible government buildings. That should go a long way toward prohibiting collective ballot dumping and ballot harvesting without eyes present. Early voting has been expanded, including an added Saturday, and two Sundays were given as options to counties. Said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp: “There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ (i.e., distant-past minority voting restrictions established by Democrats!) about requiring a photo or state-issued ID to vote by absentee ballot. Every Georgia voter must already do so when voting in-person. President Biden, the left, and the national media are determined to destroy the sanctity and security of the ballot box.” And the reason for that is, of course, to gain and maintain perpetual power and control for Progressive Democrats over the nation and our states, removing that inconvenient designation “democratic republic” from use and memory.
Election day hours in Georgia will remain the same: 7 AM to 7 PM. Early voting day hours were set at 9AM to 5 PM, but again, the number of early voting days were expanded, and Georgia counties have the option of extending early voting hours to 7 PM, if they wish. Bottom line: No voting suppression, but rather expanded opportunities, depending on individual county preferences.
And that’s one place where Mr. Biden stepped into it. Claimed he: “What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick. It’s sick. Deciding that you’re going to end voting at 5 PM when working people are just getting off work. It ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over.” Well, first of all, the ridiculous assertion that this legislation, or even a part of it, is “un-American.” What is happening right now in D.C., under his watch, with one-sided, anti-America, ramrod legislation is what’s truly un-American! Secondly, the working people he now seems to care about, after ending-by-edict the pipeline and border wall construction projects, throwing thousands of working people out of work, will still have the same ability to vote on election day as always, plus more days in which to early vote, especially if individual counties decide to go with the 7 PM early voting day cut-off. Regardless, there will be no less of an opportunity for working people, and all people, to vote in Georgia!
Well, then he stepped into it again when he misunderstood or perhaps never had fully explained to him, the actual legislative wording regarding obtaining drinking water while waiting in line to vote. Said he, based on false knowledge: “It’s an atrocity. The idea, you want any indication, it has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency. They (Georgia) pass a law saying you can’t provide water to people standing in line, while they’re waiting to vote. You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. You can’t provide water for people to vote? Give me a break.”
Well, here’s the “break” he’s requesting. The actual wording of the law: “No person shall solicit votes or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to a voter. (HOWEVER…) This Code section shall not be construed to prohibit a poll officer from making available self-service water from an unattended receptacle to a voter waiting in line to vote.” Clearly this is strictly about not permitting a partisan person, wearing a ‘Vote For’ t-shirt, or handing out political material, to provide money or “water” to a voter in line to influence that person’s vote. Water may be provided to voters at the polling location, on a self-serve basis, OR nothing prohibits voters from bringing their own water, soft drink, or snack to the voting line. Food and drinks can also be donated at polling places, but it must be administered by poll workers. So, you see, this provision is neither “punitive” nor an “atrocity,” as claimed by the misinformed Mr. Biden.
The “Man-Overboard” wailing hard-Leftists are offended by the new Georgia law because is closes some of their hoped-for loop-holes for, shall we say, partisan mis-use of the voting process. Again, Governor Kemp: “The legislation seeks to tighten up elections and reduce fraud by enforcing conformity across the state, amping up voter ID, restricting drop boxes, and expanding in-person voting. With Senate Bill 202, Georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible, and fair. Ensuring the integrity of the ballot box isn’t partisan, it’s about protecting the very foundation of who we are as Georgians and Americans.”
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly had some choice words for Mr. Biden’s reaction to the Georgia law. Said he: “You know what’s sick is that the president of the United States is playing the race card continuously in such a hypocritical way. He said the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Well, he made a speech when he was a Senator suggesting the filibuster was the best thing for the Senate. What’s sick is H.R.1 federalizing state elections. In our Constitution, states are supposed to run elections. H.R.1 is the biggest power grab in the history of our country. It institutionalizes harvesting. It does away with the voter I.D. requirement. It will take over every election in every state.” Senator Graham continued: “Any time a Republican does anything, you’re a racist. If you’re a white conservative, you’re a racist. If you’re a black Republican, you’re either a prop or Uncle Tom. They use the racism card to advance the liberalism agenda. H.R.1 is sick. Not what they’re doing in Georgia.”
And the Senator gets to the apparent heart of the issue behind the Georgia curtain. It’s now all about passing the disastrous for the nation H.R. 1 legislation which federalizes elections, and by so doing, will ensure that Progressives remain in power and control for the foreseeable future, if not forever. It is dangerous and destructive legislation that must be defeated, somehow. Objections to the Georgia law are simply a front for their bigger issue: national election control. Echoed the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal: “Democrats aren’t smearing Georgia because they believe their ‘Jim Crow’ nonsense. Their strategy is to play the race card to justify breaking the Senate filibuster, so they can jam through their election reform known as H.R 1 and overrule 50 state voting laws.”
Activists in Georgia are currently calling for a variety of boycotts of athletic events and products in an effort to force a revision or elimination of the new law. Hopefully, Georgia and her corporations will stand strong against this coercion. Other states, largely Republican led, are also revising their state election policies and procedures for the same reason Georgia has. But again, the far bigger issue for our future, and that of all states, is the need to defeat H.R.1 in the Senate. It represents a huge federal Progressive sledge-hammer slamming down on, and they hope eliminating, state election laws as we’re always known them. It simply cannot become law in our America. H.R.1, not the Georgia election revisions, is what’s truly, to quote Mr. Biden, “un-American.
(Kemp quote via dailymail.com, Adam Schrader, 3-27-21; Biden quote re: voting hours via foxnews.com, Brian Flood, 3-30-21; Biden “water in line” quote and the actual legal provision via dailywire.com, Ashe Schow, 3-27-21; Kemp summation quote via dailywire.com, Ian Haworth, 3-26-21; Graham quotes via breitbart.com, Pam Key, 3-28-21; Editorial quote via The Wall Street Journal, Editorial Board, 3-27-21).