ICYMI: New Report Shows Georgia’s Proposed Voting Restrictions Will Harm Black Voters Most

The Brennan Center for Justice recently published a new report analyzing the effect of legislation proposed by Georgia Republicans to restrict voting, concluding that such “changes will disproportionately hurt Black voters.”

Proposals to restrict voting-by-mail and curtail Sunday voting would especially harm Black Georgians, who used both of those methods extensively in the last election cycle. A detailed breakdown of demographic trends for vote-by-mail and Sunday voting in the 2020 general election makes it clear how Georgia Republicans’ proposed changes to voting are a “response to a shift in the racial demographics of the voters who use it.”

Highlights from the report are below. Read the full report here.

Black voters’ share of the vote-by-mail electorate increased while white voters’ share dropped between 2016 and 2020. 

––> Georgia Republicans are now considering a bill to end no-excuse mail voting.

The vast majority of older mail voters in 2020 were white, while the majority of younger mail voters were non-white.

––> Georgia Republicans’ proposal to end no-excuse mail voting would continue to allow unrestricted vote-by-mail for older voters, while severely restricting it for younger voters.

Black voters’ share of the electorate on Sunday early voting days was significantly higher than on other early voting days, while white voters’ share was lower.

 ––> Georgia Republicans are now considering a bill to limit early in-person voting on Sundays.

###