|
Butch Miller, the No.2 Republican in Georgia's
Republican-controlled senate and a candidate for lieutenant
governor in the 2022 elections, said drop boxes were a “weak
link” in guarding against voter fraud, according to a statement
released by his office.
Former President Donald Trump had criticized Miller, the Georgia
Senate’s president pro tempore, for not doing more to pursue his
false voter fraud allegations and has said he will not support
Miller's bid for lieutenant governor.
Georgia will see two high-profile contests next year, when
former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams likely
takes on Republican Governor Brian Kemp in rematch of their 2018
battle. Kemp must first fend off a primary challenge from David
Perdue, a Trump-backed former U.S. senator who has endorsed his
false election fraud claims.
Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, the state’s first
African-American senator, is up for re-election. The leading
Republican candidate is Herschel Walker, a former football star
at the University of Georgia and in the NFL.
The southern state became a flashpoint of baseless election
conspiracy theories after President Joe Biden's upset victory
over Trump last November. Kemp and the state's Republican
secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, have insisted no
widespread fraud occurred.
Democrats narrowly won two U.S. Senate races in the state that
gave them majority control of that chamber. Warnock won one of
them in a special run-off for the final two years of a term
after Republican Johnny Isakson resigned for health reasons.
Earlier this year, the Georgia legislature passed a voting
reform measure that sharply limited the number of drop boxes,
disproportionately affecting Democratic-leaning, urban counties
with significant Black populations that relied on the boxes
during the pandemic. The law also shortened the time for
requesting an absentee ballot.
The U.S. Justice Department sued the state in June, alleging
that several provisions in the bill were adopted with the
purpose of suppressing the right to vote on account of race.
In addition, the general assembly passed a series of
county-specific bills that handed greater control of local
election boards to Republican county commissions, pushing out
some outspoken Black advocates in the process.
(Reporting by James Oliphant, Editing by Soyoung Kim and Bill
Berkrot)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
