Governor Kemp Signs Georgia Election Restrictions Law Despite Outcry

By Jess Smith Mar 26 2021, 05:35 AM EDT

Republican Senate Candidates Hold Election Night Party In Georgia — ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 05: Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp speaks during a run-off election night party at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead on January 5, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Voters in Georgia headed to the polls today for the two Senate run-off elections, pitting incumbents Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) against Democratic candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, which will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

After a considered controversial election in the state, the governor of the state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, signed election bills into law on Thursday, reforming some rules to avoid another crisis in the voting process.

Despite objections raised by some Democrats, GOP state lawmakers were able to pass the bill at a 34-20 vote in the state Senate and 100-75 in the statehouse as they dominate both political scenes. The election reform bill involves the imposition of rules regarding voter identification down to the limitation on the ballot drop boxes.

The said legislation was initially passed in the widely considered 'battleground state' by some political experts since the victory of the United States President Joe Biden. It will set requirements for those individuals to have absentee ballots to have voter identifications which will give state officials to take over the local election boards. Also, there will be limitations in using the ballot drop boxes. Moreover, if an individual will approach voters in line, even the intention will be only giving food or water, it will now be a crime under the new election law.

According to Washington Examiner, the Georgia governor shared after signing the election bill into law that there were significant reforms in the elections that the state needs to avoid alarming issues and election mishandling just like in the past. Kemp also mentioned he does not want another crisis in the public's confidence about the handling of the elections.

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The 95 pages of election bills turned into law on Thursday will not allow voters in the state to have the drop boxes in the last four days of an election as it is usually too late to mail the ballots out on time. For absentee voters in the state, they would have to suffice the additional document requirement instead of the signature matching processes. This means that voters need to present their driver's license numbers or other documentation for identity verification.

However, in Georgia, more than 200,000 voters lack state identification or even a driver's license, which is why they need to provide additional proof of their identities. For absentee ballots, it should be requested 11 days prior to the election day, while provisional ballots that were cast in the wrong precinct will be automatically considered as disqualified, ABC News reported.

Furthermore, the bill's final version did not include a proposal to abolish the no-excuse absentee voting, which allowed voters in Georgia to cast an absentee ballot since 2005. Meanwhile, the lawmakers did not include those senior citizens, who are 65 years or older in the mail-in voting restriction because of their physical disability or they're out of town.

On the other hand, voting rights activists opposed the passing of the election bill into law as they have pointed out that it was prompted by the election loss of former President Donald Trump. Protesters even gathered outside the state Capitol in Atlanta, and objected to the said reform by saying that they considered it as 'Jim Crow 2.0,' Associated Press reported.

WATCH: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs sweeping GOP elections bill into law - 13WMAZ