Is anyone else wondering why a Republican-dominated Georgia legislature is turning back time by reforming voting reforms achieved by a previous Republican-dominated Georgia legislature?
As editor of The Augusta Press, I spend my days studying what’s happening in the state that affects our readers here in Augusta, and while the General Assembly is in session, that means I spend a lot of time reading bills, legislative reports and news stories from other media.
That means I’ve been watching while the legislature systematically dismantles advances made in 2008 to open up the polls in Georgia to those who might not otherwise be able to vote due to illness, transportation issues or other factors.
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I was one of those people in 2020. I finished my last chemotherapy treatment the week before the presidential election. It would not have been physically possible for me to get to the polls. Not only was I still experiencing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy, I was rarely leaving the house. Having a suppressed immune system in the middle of a pandemic in not a good time to go out and about, even for a good purpose like voting. So, I applied for and got an absentee ballot.
Fortunately, I anticipate being able to go to the polls from now on, but someone else who is in my shoes for future elections will not be able to use an absentee ballot. The bill, as written, limits those who can get an absentee ballot to those who are out of the state on election day, who work in elections, who are disabled, who are observing a religious holiday or who are older than 65.
I wasn’t disabled. I was sick from the chemotherapy. Really sick. The kind of sick where you really can’t leave the house. Anyone who’s been through chemotherapy understands what I’m talking about.
By the same token, I have preached for years about the importance of voting, of accepting the civic responsibilities that come along with being an American citizen. I was willing. I was able, the week before my every-three-weeks treatment, to fill out the ballot and mail it in. But, that’s not going to be a possibility for others in my situation in the future. I say that because this package of election reform bills is sailing through the legislature. I have no doubt they will become law.
If these bills do become law, Georgia will withdraw from the majority of states – 34 total right now — that offer no-excuse-required absentee ballots and join the minority of states — 16 – that do not.
I don’t mind the idea of sending in ID with a request for an absentee ballot. I might chafe a bit at the idea of having to have a witness if I also have to provide ID, but I can probably swallow that, too. Eventually.
What I don’t like is seeing my adopted state whittling away at voting rights. We have had enough of that in the South.
Debbie Reddin van Tuyll is Editor-in-chief of The Augusta Press. Reach her at debbie@theaugustapress.com
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