‘POLITICS AT ITS VERY WORST’

Civil Rights Groups Sue Georgia Over New Voter Suppression Law

The ACLU and several other groups argue Georgia’s new restrictive law violates the First, Second, and Fifteenth Amendments, and the Voting Rights Act.

The ACLU and several other civil rights groups are uniting to sue the state of Georgia for its new voter law that disadvantages people of color, the organization said Tuesday. The law, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, is meant to “diminish Black political power in Georgia,” Sherrilyn Ifill, an advocate for the lawsuit, said. This law, known as S.B. 202, bans mobile voting, limits secure drop boxes, and prohibits “line warming,” a term used to describe when volunteers give out water and snacks to Georgians who wait in long voting lines. The lawsuit, Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Kemp, addresses the law’s violation of the First, Second, and Fifteenth Amendments, and the Voting Rights Act. “This law is driven by blatant racism, represents politics at its very worst, and is clearly illegal...We urge the court to act swiftly to take it down,” Sophia Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said.