What Is the Real Reason for the DOJ’s Lawsuit Against the State of Georgia?

             The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the federal lawsuit against the State of Georgia. The Department of Justice announced on Friday that it had filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia, the Georgia Secretary of State, and the Georgia State Election Board to stop racially discriminatory provisions of the Georgia Senate Bill 202. The DOJ is challenging the provisions of the Bill under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland made the following statement. 

The right of all eligible citizens to vote is the central pillar of our democracy, the right from which all other rights ultimately flow. This lawsuit is the first step of many we are taking to ensure that all eligible voters can cast a vote; that all lawful votes are counted; and that every voter has access to accurate information.

The right to vote is one of the most central rights in our democracy and protecting the right to vote for all Americans is t the core of the Civil Rights Division’s mission. The Department of Justice will use all the tools it has available to ensure that each eligible citizen can register, cast a ballot, and have that ballot counted free form racial discrimination. Law adopted with a racially motivated purpose, like Georgia Senate Bill 202, simple have no place in democracy today.

One of the fundamental rights of our democracy is the right to vote. That right should be protected for every citizen of our district, regardless of

            No one argues that every citizen has a right to vote without regard to race, ethnicity, religious, sex, or any number of reasons. However, the Georgia law merely requires that voters prove that they are who they say that they are. The law has nothing to do with race, and it is supported more by the people of color than it is by white people. However, it has been subject to dishonest attacks from both the mainstream media and Democrats and has been compared to laws known as “Jim Crow.” It appears that the DOJ does not approve of the requirement to ask for identification before being allowed to vote. Its claims parrot claims from Democrats about the law abridging the voting rights of black people.

            Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed the bill into law, and he pushed back against the claims made by the DOJ: 

This lawsuit is born out of the lies and misinformation the Biden administration has pushed against Georgia’s Election Integrity Act from the start. Joe Biden, Stacey Abrams, and their allies tried to force an unconstitutional elections power grab through Congress – and failed. Now, they are weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice to carry out their far-left agenda that undermines election integrity and empowers federal government overreach in our democracy.

            Liberal Professor Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School believes that the DOJ’s decision to sue Georgia over the new voting law will backfire on the Biden administration and Democrats. When interviewed on “Fox and Friends,” he predicted that the Biden administration “may ultimately regret” the lawsuit.

I’m highly skeptical and I think they may ultimately regret this move. It could indeed clarify this issue in a way the Biden administration does not want. This is a very dubious case in my view because the Georgia law has great overlap with other states, like Delaware.

One of the issues that the court may ultimately amplify is that elections were left in the Constitution to the state. Alexander Hamilton actually wrote in the federalist papers imagine if the federal government was to take over the management of elections and he basically said we would all object. Well, that’s what’s happening now in Congress they are trying to essentially federalize elections and I think they are going to have a serious pushback on this lawsuit.

            What does the Constitution say about elections? “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators” (Article I, Section 4, Clause 1). I agree with Turley. The DOJ may be regretting this lawsuit because the States are going to push back hard.