Attorneys general from 15 states file brief in support of Georgia’s new election laws

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is leading 15 other state attorneys general in backing Georgia’s effort to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s new voter laws.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Georgia, Georgia’s secretary of state and other election officials in June, saying several provisions of the state’s recent voting reform law blocks the right to vote for Georgians based on race.

The DOJ took issue with the portions of the bill that ban government entities from sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications and fine civic organizations, churches and advocacy groups for sending them. It also opposes the shortening of deadlines for absentee ballots and out-of-precinct provisional ballots. The DOJ said the limitations on drop boxes and restrictions on food and water giveaways close to precincts or polling lines are discriminatory, as is a photocopy identification requirement in the bill.

Yost called the justice department’s lawsuit baseless and political.

“Georgia actually expanded the time period in which all citizens may cast early ballots,” Yost said. “The Biden Administration complaint has nothing to do with the law and everything to do with politics. This brief is a history lesson on what actual voter suppression looked like – and why Georgia’s new law is nothing of the sort.”

Yost also called the lawsuit an attempt by the federal government to take control of the details of states’ election laws.

“This brief defends our right to govern ourselves,” Yost said.

Georgia’s election changes have led to several lawsuits, along with backlash from Democrats, businesses and the entertainment industry. Major League Baseball also pulled this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta.

Joining Yost in the brief are attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.