PoliticoJoe Biden administration to sue Georgia over its controversial voting rights bill
- Republican state legislators around the country have pushed a host of provisions that would make it more challenging for people to vote
- Georgia’s Election Integrity Act stripped Georgia’s secretary of state of power on the state elections board
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Betsy Woodruff Swan and Zach Montellaro on politico.com on June 25, 2021.
The Justice Department is suing the state of Georgia over its controversial voting rights bill, a person familiar with the department’s plans confirmed.
Georgia’s Election Integrity Act, which was passed on a party-line vote and signed into law by Republican Governor Brian Kemp in late March, contained a slew of changes to election laws in the state. Perhaps most notably, it stripped Georgia’s secretary of state of power on the state elections board, making the board majority-appointed by the state legislature.
Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, clashed repeatedly with former President Donald Trump following the 2020 election. Trump tried to pressure Raffensperger into trying to overturn the results in the state, but Raffensperger pushed back privately and publicly, insisting the election was a free and fair one.
The state elections board is also now able to remove local election administrators from their posts.