Georgia Enacts SB 202 — Sweeping Voter Suppression Law Targeting Drop Boxes, Absentee Voting, and Voter Assistance

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs Senate Bill 202, the 'Election Integrity Act of 2021,' into law — a 98-page omnibus election bill that imposes sweeping new voting restrictions in response to President Trump's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election. Key provisions include: new photo ID requirements for requesting and returning absentee ballots; limiting ballot drop boxes to one per 100,000 voters (reducing Fulton County from 38 drop boxes to 8); requiring drop boxes to be inside early voting sites and accessible only during voting hours; banning mobile voting units; criminalizing the distribution of food or water to voters standing in line within 150 feet of a polling place; giving the State Election Board power to take over local county election boards; and reducing the time between a general election and runoff from nine weeks to four weeks — eliminating mandatory weekend early voting for runoffs. The law is immediately challenged in federal court by the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Democratic state Representative Park Cannon is arrested by Georgia State Patrol for knocking on the governor's door during the signing ceremony. Major League Baseball moves its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest.