DOJ Steps Up In To Mitigate Georgia Mail Ballot Controversy

Half of Ballots Rejected After New Law Goes Into Effect in Texas

(ConservativeInsider.org) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday, July 8 that they plan to step in over a lawsuit filed in Georgia over whether their state deadline for absentee ballot application violates the Voting Rights Act.

In 2021, Georgia passed state law SB 202, which requires voters to submit their application for an absentee ballot at least 11 days before a presidential election. The International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees, a union that represents people who work within the entertainment industry, challenged the law in 2023, arguing that per Section 202 of the Voting Rights Act, voters must be allowed to cast a provisional ballot (also known as an absentee ballot) as long as they applied a week before the general election. As federal law supersedes state law, they believe Georgia’s law should be blocked by the court.

Though the DOJ filed a Notice of Intervention, it is unclear whether they are in support of the plaintiffs or will oppose them. The notice states that they will announce their interpretation of Section 202 of the Voting Rights Act by July 22.

The Republican National Committee, along with other Republican state groups, have supported Georgia in defending the changes to voting requirements. The Georgia Republican Party submitted a filing to defend the law alongside the RNC. Christopher Carr, the Georgia Attorney General, has argued that the theater employees lack the standing to even file the lawsuit and only the U.S. attorney general has the requisite standing to challenge the law.

Another group filed a challenge against the law last year, suggesting that the law was created to discriminate against black voters by creating new rules that require specific identification in order to vote. That challenge was struck down by a federal judge in October 2023.

SB 202 is not the only recent Georgia law to make changes to voting regulations, as Gov. Brian Kemp signed SB 189 earlier this year, which defines “probable causes” for removing a voter from the rolls.