Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc (LDF) and the Southern Poverty Law Center submitted written testimony in the Georgia State Senate Senate Ethics Committee opposing Senate Bill 67 (S.B. 67). S.B. 67 is a calculated attempt to disenfranchise people of color. The bill would create new restrictions for mail-in voting, including a photo ID requirement and the end to at-will absentee voting. If S.B. 67 passes, it will put in place unnecessary burdens to voting and disproportionately impact voters of color, voters with disabilities, low-income people, rural residents, and students. Introduced as a way to address a “problem” with election security, supporters of the bill have yet to provide concrete facts or evidence that Georgia’s current system is not secure. Georgia’s mail-in voting measures have been in place and utilized by white voters for years. Only after the historic 2020 Election when voters of color also started using mail-in voting in large numbers did concerns of security manifest. SB 67 is a clear attempt to dilute the participation and political power of voters of color.
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.