Really? Are Georgia voters threatened with a $100,000 fine and maybe 10 years in prison if false information appears on their application for an absentee ballot? Yes, they are. And the warning appears at the top of the application, and at the bottom right above your signature.

Threatening voters has always been part of the Republican strategy of rigging elections, especially in the South. It’s not something new. However, due directly to Donald Trump’s Big Lie (Magnum Mendacium)-1, legislatures around the country convinced themselves that they need to install a new level of election integrity to help lost souls regain trust in the whole dam election process. In Georgia, the Republicans, led by House Speaker David Ralston, established an “Election Integrity Committee.” If you remember, Donald Trump called is old pal, Brad Raffensperger, after 18 attempts, on January 2, 2021 to ask the Secretary of State to find just enough ballots to put Trump over the top of Joe Biden’s vote total. Raffensperger, to his credit, said Mr. President, you have you numbers wrong. You lost the election here in Georgia. Trump is taking his revenge out on Raffensperger by supporting a candidate running against him in the Republican primary on May 24. It makes me sick, but Trump is all over the Georgia media outlets with his outrageous, continuing lie that the election was stolen from him. I think he forgot that he tried to steal the 2020 election, not the other way around.

Raffensperger has been made the goat, and indeed, Speaker Ralston suggested that the state legislators choose the secretary of state, or that a new appointed position be created called “chief election officer.” Neither of these ideas held. However, the “Election Integrity Committee, through Georgia’s new election law, removed the secretary of state from any involvement in future elections. Voting rights are on trial in Georgia.

Drop Boxes

The new law also regulates drop boxes and reduces the time for the use of mail-in voting. In past elections, drop boxes were available 24/7, but now they will be located inside the county clerk’s office. And only one drop box per 100,000 voters is allowed. There are 7,234,431 registered voters in the state, which means there would be seventy-two drop boxes across a large state, or one drop box per 825 square miles. There are 345 square miles in Cobb County, where I live. Would that mean that Cobb and another counties nearby would share one drop box? Also, it would be unlawful to provide water or food while voters stand in line. This cruel policy negatively impacts low-income voters who stand in line with their children so that they can take advantage of food services at voting sites.

But more egregious is that the bill enables the Georgia state election board to intervene in county- and precinct-level elections by suspending county or municipal superintendents based on performance or violation of election laws. This is rather ironic because the president of the United States interfered in the 2020 election, which is a violation of Georgia’s election laws. Indeed, yesterday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, picked a special grand jury to probe Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference. The special grand jury was requested by Willis because most of the key witnesses in the Trump inquiry refused to cooperate unless they were issued a court ordered subpoena.

I’ve been on the lookout ever since the new election law was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Kemp. Ballot drop boxes are available inside precinct or election office, but only during business hours. In the past, the boxes were located outside offices giving 24/7 access. Now, it’s five days a week, from 9 A.M – 5 P.M.

Early Voting & Vote by Mail

Yesterday, early voting began for the primary election on May 24. There are still two weeks remaining to apply for an absentee ballot. In the 2020 election, any registered voter could vote by mail. Not any more. There are only three categories.

• D- Disabled. I am physically disabled.
• E- Elderly. I am over 65 years of age.
• U-UOCAVA. I am a uniformed service member, spouse or other citizen living overseas.

Well, I am elderly. I’ll be 82 on June 1. So I am eligible. So is my wife. I won’t mention her age, but she’s younger than me.

$100,000 Fine. Really?

I went online and found the application for an absentee ballot, and after I read it, I was astonished that we Georgians were threatened with a $100,000 fine and a jail term of not more than 10 years. When I voted by mail in the 2020 election, I don’t remember reading anything about fines or imprisonment, nor did I have to do anything except sign the application. Not any more. In addition the threat, you now need to provide proof of existence, beyond your signature which has been used successfully for decades. A driver’s license is required. However, if you don’t have one, you’ll have to get some form of identification, and also upload a photo of yourself. All of this is quite disturbing in that it puts up barriers that are not needed for folks to vote.

1. Jack Hassard (August 2022). The Trump Files: Commentary on the Trump Administration’s Effect on American Democracy, Human Rights, Science and Public Health. Marietta: Northington-Hearn.