ATLANTA— A Georgia federal judge issued rulings Aug. 18 that blocks two provisions of the state’s election law crafted in 2021 after historic Republican losses in the state.

U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee ruled against sections of the law that banned providing food and drinks to those waiting in long voting lines, and another that required voters to write their date of birth on their absentee ballot return envelopes.

Boulee ruled that that Georgia’s ban on giving away food, drinks or gifts is valid within 150 feet of the polling place, but not 150 feet outside the polling place.

Testimony in the case indicated the the regulation was prompted by the notion that voters would perceive line relief as improper “electioneering or political pressure” — creating a perception of voter intimidation.

Plaintiffs, which included a coalition of voting rights groups such as the Georgia NAACP, said the ban was an infringement on First Amendment rights. Voting rights group argued that passing out snacks and water helps provide line relief by aiding voters as they wait to cast ballots. 

Boulee recalled testimony that indicated during the early voting period for December 2022 mid-term election runoffs, 21 of Fulton County’s 24 voting locations had a line of wait of more than one hour; all 11 of Gwinnett County’s early voting sites reported wait times of at least 45 minutes; and, wait times at 11 of its 16 DeKalb County’s early voting locations exceeded 30 minutes.

Lines also extended past the 150-feet buffer at some locations. 

“Plaintiffs also introduced expert testimony that wait times in presidential election years are likely to be worse compared to other election years,” the order noted.  

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he does not forsee the temporary block against the food and drink ban having any major effect on election operations, claiming that voter wait times were minimal in elections in 2022.

“Due to the good work that both the state and county election officials have done to ensure short lines for voters, this decision should have limited effect,” Raffensperger said. ”I am grateful that the ban on giving things of value to voters remains in place within 150 feet of the polling place. All voters should have the right to cast their vote in peace without being subject to potentially unwanted solicitations.”

Boulee’s ruling also banned counties from rejecting absentee ballots that are not filled out with the voter’s birthdate on the return envelope.    

In part, the order suggests that the birthdate requirement on the outer envelope of an absentee ballot is unnecessary and lacked material standing.  

“Voters are required to provide their social security number and the number from their driver’s license or state identification card on the outer envelope. State Defendants fail to adequately explain why these verification methods are not sufficient to identify a voter,” Boulee stated. “Given the evidence presented, the Court is simply not persuaded that eliminating the Birthdate Requirement risks introducing fraudulent ballots or threatens election integrity.”

Data provided in court showed a notable increase in voters’ ballot rejections due to failure to comply with the birthdate requirement.

Raffensperger called Boulee’s opinion “misguided.”

“A federal judge ruled that using a voter’s date of birth to help verify that it is actually the voter who is returning the ballot violates the Civil Rights Act,” Raffensperger said. “Verifying that a voter who is not present is actually the person who cast the ballot is one of the most difficult and important things that local election officials are asked to do.”

Raffesnperger said he expected the decision to be appealed and that the state law will be upheld in the end.

Election Integrity Act  of 2021 still largely unchanged

Other challenged sections of the Republican-supported “Election Integrity Act of 2021,” which added restrictions on absentee voting, were not addressed in Boulee’s ruling.

The heightened absentee ballot measures came after the 2020 presidential election saw Georgia officially become a toss up state with President Joe Biden’s narrow victory of then-President Donald Trump in the state. 

During that election Georgia voters broke records in absentee voting — largely attributed to the pandemic —  sparking unfounded claims of voter fraud led by Trump and his allies.  

After the election, Georgia Republicans led the way in states enacting new voting laws.

The Election Integrity Act of 2021 (SB 202) limits the amount of time an absentee ballot can be requested to no later than 11 days pre-election, which was previously allowed up to the Friday before the election. The law also reduces the time that counties can mail out ballots to four weeks before an election — three weeks later than previously. 

A copy of a form of ID is also now required to request and submit an absentee ballot.

Per SB 202, absentee ballot drop boxes are no longer allowed to be placed outside of government buildings for 24 hours drop-offs and instead are to be located inside early voting sites and only accessible during early voting hours. The law requires every county to have at least one drop box, but no more than one per every 100,000 registered voters.

Georgia continues to have no-excuse absentee ballot voting. In 2022, 6 percent of Georgians voted via absentee ballot.

Representatives from the voter advocacy group Fair Fight said they plan to build a large-scale organizing program, reach voters with accurate and educational voting information, respond to issues at polling locations, support voter education and access efforts on college campuses.  

Georgia Democrat Rep. Ruwa Romman, the first Palestinian-American elected to the Georgia House, said Democrats’ grassroot efforts helped inform voters about the new law, and helped increase Democrat voter turnout last year.

“We didn’t see the absolute disasters that we were expecting (with SB 202) because people out-organized all of those bad policies,” she said. “Sometimes people see a positive outcome as an indication that those policies were not negatively impactful. But, I hope they can also see that this actually provides a blueprint of what we need to do for 2024 which is not just dump a bunch of money in the mail and advertisements.”  

According to U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s “Election Administration and Voting Survey 2022: Comprehensive Report,” Georgia ranked second in the nation for early voting, with 58% of Georgians casting their ballot in person before Election Day, compared with 48% in 2018.

Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz said voters appear more motivated to vote in recent years, as elections have become more competitive.

“Although, I think the intention of those who were passing (SB 202) was to basically try and make it more difficult for primarily Democratic-leaning groups, especially African Americans and low-income voters to participate in elections, throwing up roadblocks unnecessarily,” he said. “I think it was a way to try to satisfy the kind of demands that have been made by Trump and his allies. Attacks by Trump and his allies on elections. And, on Georgia in particular, that in the end effects were pretty minimal.”

In light of a recent Fulton County indictment against Trump and three other Georgia GOP members for alleged 2020 election interference, the state’s GOP has been ramping up fundraising efforts to fight against what the GO has called political attacks through the justice system. 

“I think that the conviction could certainly hurt (Trump) at least with a segment of the electorate, not necessarily his base, but among the swing voter … (and) there’s a relatively small group of swing voters,” Abramowitz said. “And we saw that by and large, they rejected Trump’s candidates in the midterm elections, especially in the key states. … That suggests that this sort of thing is likely to hurt Trump and other Republicans, again, and 2024, especially (candidates) who are closely aligned with Trump.”

An AJC GOP Presidential Primary Poll of 807 likely Republican primary voters in Georgia was conducted August 16-23, after Trump’s indictment in Fulton County. 

The poll shows that Trump still holds a significant lead in Georgia over his primary challengers. He holds more than a 40-point lead over second-place candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Pollsters, approximately 31%, said that Trump’s 13-count felony indictment — which includes Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations — in Fulton County are “not serious at all,” and nearly 13% said “not too serious.”