ATLANTA — A U.S. Senate Committee came to Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights Monday morning to hold a hearing on Georgia’s controversial new elections law and hear testimony as to why witnesses believe the law promotes voter suppression.
Georgia Republicans continue to defend what they call the Elections Integrity Act.
[READ: What is in Georgia’s new voting law, also known as SB 202?]
Four Democratic Senators, led by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, heard nearly two hours of testimony from lawmakers, former poll workers, activists and voters.
“Over the last year, Georgia has become ground zero for the sweeping voter suppression efforts we’ve seen gain momentum all across our country,” Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock testified. “Spurred by the big lie, these same actors are now busy rolling back voting rights in a way that we haven’t seen in size and scope since the Jim Crow era.”
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“We are seeing efforts to suppress the voting and make it harder to vote for partisan ends all across the country,” Ossoff said after the hearing concluded. “This hearing was important because it shines a light on what Georgia has done which is the on the basis of lies told by the former president.”
Sen. Klobuchar said she invited her Republican colleagues on the committee to attend as well as top Georgia Republicans to testify. None did.
[READ: “U.S. VS. GEORGIA:” Department of Justice to file lawsuit against Georgia over voting law]
But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did take to Twitter to defend the new law.
“Today, far left politicians continue their false attacks on Georgia’s Election Integrity Act,” Kemp said in a video posted on Twitter. “For President Biden, Sen. Klobuchar and her Democratic colleagues, their false attacks and politicized lawsuits aren’t about expanding voting rights at all. It’s about raising money and grabbing more power.”
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