Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed a vast rewrite of Georgia’s election rules into law Thursday, imposing voter ID requirements, limiting drop boxes and allowing state takeovers of local elections after last year’s close presidential race.
Besides requiring ID numbers to vote absentee, the bill mandates that ballot drop boxes be located inside early voting locations, limiting their usefulness. Drop boxes won’t be available to voters in the last four days of an election, when it’s often too late to mail them in time.
Weekend voting before general elections will be expanded, with mandatory voting hours on two Saturdays statewide. Counties will retain the option to allow early voting on two Sundays. But early voting before runoffs will be reduced to a minimum of just one week before election day.
The bill also will allow the State Election Board to take over county election boards that it deems need intervention. Skeptics say that will allow Republican officials to decide which ballots count in majority Democratic areas, such as Fulton County.
In addition, the legislation sets a deadline to request absentee ballots 11 days before election day and disqualifies provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct.
Distributing food or drinks to voters waiting in line is also prohibited.
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