Debate begins over bill to ban absentee ballot drop boxes in Georgia
ATLANTA - The start of the 2022 legislative session is still three weeks away, but debate has already begun over a bill to ban absentee ballot drop boxes in Georgia.
Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, filed the legislation Monday.
"Drop boxes are the weakest link in our voting system. Georgians in general have lost confidence in the election process," Sen. Miller explained.
Georgia has only had drop boxes since 2020 when the State Election Board passed an emergency rule allowing counties to install them because of the large number of voters casting absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The bill comes just months after Miller and other state lawmakers approved Senate Bill 202, which requires all Georgia counties to have at least one drop box. That bill also limits counties to just one box per 100,000 registered voters.
Sen. Miller was one of the co-sponsors of that bill.
"With legislation sometimes you get the best thing you can at that time and that's the best thing we could do at that time," said Sen. Miller. "Drop boxes were an emergency response to the COVID pandemic. That emergency has subsided. We need to go back to normal."
State Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson, said Democrats will fight the legislation, which perpetuates the myth that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
"The Republicans are still trying to give credence to the 'Big Lie' and now we have legislation, again, to support the 'Big Lie,'" said Sen. Merritt.
She pointed out that Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, also used a drop box to cast his ballot in November 2020.
But Sen. Merritt said removing drop boxes would impact Democratic and minority voters most.
"This type of move disenfranchises them and to me, punishes them for the Democratic wins that we saw in Georgia," said Sen. Merritt.
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Merritt said she thinks Sen. Miller filed the bill because he is locked in a tough primary battle with fellow Republican Sen. Burt Jones for lieutenant governor.
"At the end of the day, they're hurting Georgians by you know, using these far-right policies to help forward their primary. [Be]ause they are in a very competitive primary and this is one tool that they're using to move forward their agendas," Sen. Merritt said.
The legislative session begins Jan. 10.