ATLANTA – U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the Justice Department to drop a lawsuit the Biden administration filed in 2021 challenging an overhaul of state election law passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
Senate Bill 202 replaced the signature-match verification process for absentee ballots with an ID requirement. It also restricted the location of ballot drop boxes and prohibited non-poll workers from handing out food and drinks within 150 feet of voters standing in line.
The Justice Department under then-President Joe Biden claimed the law violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by intentionally discriminating against Black voters.
Georgia Republican leaders praised Bondi’s decision to drop the case, which had been widely expected since then-former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last November to win back the White House.
“Georgia is one of the top states in the country for early voting and experienced record voter turnout in multiple elections since the passage of the Elections Integrity Act,'” Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday. “I am grateful that under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Trump, the DOJ has followed the truth.”
“The Biden administration used legally and factually false information provided by Stacey Abrams and her affiliated entities to file frivolous and costly lawsuits defaming the state of Georgia,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr added. “Georgia’s law makes it easy to vote and harder to cheat, just as we saw in 2022 and 2024, which is exactly why we requested that the Department of Justice withdraw this politically motivated lawsuit.”
The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 202 several months after Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Georgia since Bill Clinton. Republicans claimed widespread voter fraud and launched a series of lawsuits challenging the outcome. None proved successful.
The 2021 legislation prompted a backlash. After Kemp signed the bill, Major League Baseball announced it would move that year’s All-Star Game from Truist Park to Denver.
“Our commitment has always been to ensure fair and secure elections for every Georgian, despite losing an All-Star game and the left’s boycott of Georgia as a result of commonsense election law,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said following Monday’s announcement by Bondi.