dtucker300 wrote:
Go back to paper b****ts without computers to count them? At least take the machines off the internet, or any network, so they can't be hacked.
And blanket mail-in b****ts and b****t harvesting. Both should be outlawed.
Georgia Senators Pass Bill to Require ID for Absentee V****g
Georgia senators are pushing through the first of what could be a raft of restrictive v****g measures.
BY Jeff Amy and Ben Nadler, Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Senate on Tuesday pushed through the first batch of what could be a raft of restrictive v****g measures Republican lawmakers say will safeguard v****g but Democrats decry as based on a lie and aimed at overturning their party’s recent e*******l success in Georgia.
The most important measure passed was Senate Bill 67, which carried on a largely party-line 35-18 v**e. It would require that a v**er include their driver’s license number, other state identification number or a photocopy of an approved ID when applying for an absentee b****t. That would replace the current process of signature verification, one of the key elements former President Donald Trump and others attacked following Trump’s November loss in Georgia.
“It’s not about disenfranchising v**ers. It’s not about overly burdening the e*****rate. It’s about efficiency, integrity, allowing the Georgia public to have confidence in the v**e,” said Sen. Larry Walker, a Perry Republican who sponsored Senate Bill 67.
The bills move to the House for more debate.
Supporters said anyone who v**es in person in Georgia has to show identification, and that absentee v**ers should do the same. Walker said submitting an identification would work for 97% of v**ers and said the other 3% could v**e in person, saying he wanted to get county e******ns “out of the middle” of verifying signatures.
Democrats, though, disputed that the measures were needed or would affect v**ers neutrally. Sen. David Lucas, a Macon Democrat who has served in the General Assembly since 1975, gave a discourse on disenfranchisement in the South after the Civil War, saying “we all know what happened back in the day.”
“That’s what this bill is about, that’s what every e******n bill is about,” Lucas said, mopping away tears with a handkerchief. “The e******n didn’t turn out the way you want and you want to perpetuate the lie that Trump told.”
Lucas pledged lawsuits would follow.
“We’re going to fight, there’s no question about it what’s going to happen, and you’re going to spend taxpayer money trying to defend it,” Lucas said.
Tuesday was the first time this year an e******n bill reached the floor of the state House or Senate. Republicans are working on numerous proposals, including some that would decrease early v****g days and prohibit absentee v****g without an excuse.
Senators also approved Senate Bill 188 by a v**e of 34-18. It would require polling officials to total how many total b****ts were cast by method, before any results could be reported. If passed, the measure could delay results being released by several days.
Sen. Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican who sponsored the measure, denied the measure would cause delays. He said he was responding to concerns that Republicans were leading on e******n night in some instances, but that Democrats overtook them as additional absentee b****ts were tallied. He referred specifically to a video from a Fulton County counting center that showed b****ts being moved around. Trump partisans decried the video but investigators said there was no wrongdoing.
“Give people the totals. Let people have the piece of mind that nothing’s being done in the dark of night” Cowsert said, saying he wanted to avoid a “moving target.”
Opponents, though, said delaying e******n results would decrease confidence.
“This would just cause more angst,” said Sen. Elena Parent, an Atlanta Democrat.
Senators approved Senate Bill 184, which would require counties to report more quickly the names of who v**ed in an e******n. Cowsert said the measure would alleviate concerns that some v**ers have voiced that their v**es might not be counted or that someone else might v**e in their name.
The Senate also passed Senate Bill 40, a bipartisan measure that allows counties to begin processing absentee b****ts eight days before an e******n.