Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc (LDF) and the Southern Poverty Law Center submitted testimony in the Georgia House of Representatives Special Committee on Election Integrity expressing opposition to House Bill 531 (H.B. 531). In response to historic participation in the November 2020 presidential and January 5, 2021 runoff elections in Georgia, we are deeply concerned that the legislature is considering a bill poised to create unnecessary barriers and burdens on voters that disproportionately impact racial minority, low-income, elderly, rural, disabled and/or student voters—rather than foster ways to expand political participation on the heels of ever-grown participation by Georgians in elections. Specifically, H.B. 531’s photo ID requirement would impose restrictions on ballot access that would be outright barriers if not burdensome to many voters. H.B. 531 is likely to violate several federal laws, including the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Read the full testimony here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Follow LDF on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
