Other parts of the House sweeping bill – including a measure giving the state investigative service the power to launch investigations into electoral fraud – could be revived in the coming days. But time is running out for action at the General Assembly of Georgia, which is scheduled to be adjourned next Monday. Voting groups praised the Senate Ethics Committee on Tuesday for taking into account the concerns of local voters who mobilized to oppose the review. Xakota Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the Fair Fight Action voting group, described Tuesday’s vote as “extremely encouraging” and a sign that Georgia’s election officials were “surprised by the string of senators”. Dozens of local officials and defenders of the vote attended a hearing Monday to urge the ethics committee to reconsider making changes to Georgia’s electoral process just months before the November midterm elections. Many criticized the complicated new security chain procedures in the bill, which would, among other things, require election officials to count blank sheets of paper. “You’re going to waste time and make me lose the ballot box,” Joel Knut, a Forsyth County Republican, told senators at the hearing. “I have 400 poll workers working for our board,” he added. “These are 400 people I could see saying to me after the (elections) in May: ‘Have a nice life’ and it ‘s quite hard to keep them right now.” Others questioned the need to extend the jurisdiction of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation into electoral crimes – a function now overseen by state election officials. “There is no point in giving new powers to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation unless your goal is to create fake, partisan investigations,” said Carly Swift, a member of the DeCalb County Democratic Election Board. This is the second year in a row that Republicans in control of Georgia’s legislature are proposing sweeping changes to the state electoral code, following President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 victory in this traditionally Republican state. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have spread the lie that widespread electoral fraud has contributed to his defeat. And he urged Republican politicians in Georgia and elsewhere to agree. Former United States Senator David Perdie, a Trump-backed Republican nominee, has pushed for an electoral police force in the state. The revision voted by Parliament also called for a public inspection of the original ballots and limits on third-party donations to the election administration. Private donations have become the target of conservative suspicions, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pledged more than $ 300 million in grants to help local officials across the country hold elections in 2020 during the pandemic. The House’s sponsor, State Legislature MP James Bershet, told CNN on Tuesday night that he was unhappy with the committee’s decision to repeal the measure and replace a two-page bill that focuses narrowly on licensing companies. to vote. “I can not say why the committee, with its infinite wisdom, decided to replace it,” Burchett added. “My bill is now in the hands of the Senate.” If the nude bill is passed quickly by the plenary of the Senate, lawmakers from both houses could convene a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions. CNN’s Kelly Mena and Dianne Gallagher contributed to this report.
