President Joe Biden has likened a new voting law in the state of Georgia

President Joe Biden has likened a new voting law in the state of Georgia

By Onlykhabar News Media Sat 27 March, 2021 ( about 5 years ago ) 🎤525 Viewersinternational

US President Joe Biden has likened a new voting law in the state of Georgia to racist policies of the 20th Century American South, calling it an atrocity.

The law adds restrictions to voting that Mr Biden said disproportionately targeted black Americans. In a strongly-worded statement, the president called it "Jim Crow in the 21st century" and "a blatant attack on the Constitution". In last year's presidential election, Mr Biden became the first Democratic candidate to win Georgia since 1992 - and it was high turnout among black Americans that was believed to have tipped the state in his favour. The state was also at the heart of false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election. 

Describing the new law he said: "This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end." Jim Crow refers to the 19th and 20th Century laws that enforced racial segregation in the US South. "Instead of celebrating the rights of all Georgians to vote or winning campaigns on the merits of their ideas, Republicans in the state instead rushed through an un-American law to deny people the right to vote," Mr Biden's statement continued. Former president Donald Trump repeatedly pressured elected officials in Georgia to investigate his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

Despite those Democratic wins, the state's government is controlled by the Republicans. Republicans introduced the Election Integrity Act of 2021, and it passed in both chambers of the state's Republican-controlled legislature within the space of a few hours on Thursday. Earlier on Friday, a Democratic state lawmaker was arrested and charged while protesting against the bill.  Park Cannon was handcuffed and removed from the state capitol for banging on Governor Brian Kemp's office door as he signed the bill.  In a statement on Facebook, the lawmaker said she "will not stand by while our voting rights are threatened" and pledged to "continue this fight".  Ms Cannon is among those who have slammed the measures in Georgia as "Jim Crow in new clothes". 

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By Onlykhabar News Media Sat 27 March, 2021 🎤525 Viewersinternational
TAGS: Joe Biden Georgia Law
President Joe Biden has likened a new voting law in the state of Georgia

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