BY LYNNE INOUYE AND SYDNEY WESCHCKE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IN TRAINING AND STAFF WRITER
Absentee and mail voting is one of the top issues when it comes to election-related bills, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows, after looking at nearly 1,800 examples. It remains a frequent debate in the realm of politics, with Democrats supporting a shift to ballots cast by mail, and Republicans, like Donald Trump and other high-ranking ones, speaking strongly against it. This divide also has influenced voter trends, with mail-in votes tending to be largely Democratic. For example, in the 2020 elections, two-thirds of people who voted by mail voted for President Biden, according to AP VoteCast. Generally speaking, this fits with the trend that Democrats lean towards making voting easier, while Republicans aim to place more restrictions.
This idea can be seen in mostly red states like Arizona, Texas, and Florida. Bills in these places are aiming to add additional ID requirements for mail-in votes or limiting the usage of ballot drop boxes. The most extreme and controversial example, however, is unmistakably Georgia. The new voting law lets state officials take over election boards if they appear to have chronic mismanagement, bans groups from providing water or food to people waiting in line to vote, and makes additional ID required.
The added identification requirement for mail-in votes has come under scrutiny, many Democrats seeing it as a way to discourage older and poorer people from voting – those that might not have a state-issued ID. Furthermore, the law also limits drop-boxes for mail ballots and the time they’re available. For example, in Fulton County, this means eight boxes throughout the entire area, which is roughly 1 for every 100,000 registered voters. People estimate that for Atlanta, the 94 boxes that were available last year will drop to only 23, as well. False rumors that the boxes aren’t secure and the fear of voting fraud lingering from the presidential election has spurred on these changes.
Stacy Abrams, a well-known voting rights activist, has a different opinion. “These are laws that respond to an increase in voting by people of color,” she said. The organizations she founded, Fair Fight, backs federal lawsuits to overturn these changes. She also has frequently spoken out against them and published op-eds criticizing the law. On top of the public reaction, though, there also has been an economic fallout for Georgia, as certain businesses or groups speak out. The most notable example is Major League Baseball’s decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta in response.
Overall, there are many other accounts regarding the new law, which we’ve only briefly summarized here. We encourage you to do your own research about the topic. Thank you for reading!
Sources:
https://apple.news/A4KXnxkA9SWyFFsd-vBPmmA