Political Rewind: House GOP proposes election security bill; Kemp qualifies; Lawmakers oppose Russia

Caption

Gov. Brian Kemp gives the thumbs up to supporters as he officially submits paperwork at the Georgia Capitol to run in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

Credit: Riley Bunch / GPB News

The Panel: 

Amy Steigerwalt —Professor of political science, Georgia State University

Charles Bullock — Professor of political science, University of Georgia

Donna Lowry — Host, GPB-TV’s Lawmakers

Kevin Riley — Editor,  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Breakdown:

1. Republicans in the Georgia House propose an election security bill. 

• HB 1464 would allow public inspections of ballot boxes and allow the Georgia Bureau of Investigations to target election fraud.
  • The bill could get a vote from a committee as soon as today.
• Opponents of the bill say that SB 202, which passed last year, already addresses election security concerns.
  • That bill limited drop boxes and required more voter ID for absentee ballots, among other things.
  • GPB's Stephen Fowler released a new Battleground: Ballot Box episode talking about the effects of SB202.

2. Incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp qualifies for reelection run.

• His chief GOP challenger, David Perdue, qualified on Wednesday.
• Democratic rival Stacey Abrams qualified on Tuesday.
  • Abrams came within 55,000 votes in her race against Kemp in 2018.  

3. Georgia's corporate giants react to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

• Last week several Georgia-based companies, including Delta Air Lines, announced a halt to their business in Russia.
  • Coca-Cola joined those companies this week.
• The state House passed a resolution condemning Russia's "barbaric" attacks. 
• The state Senate passed legislation to prohibit Russian companies from bidding on state contracts. 

Tomorrow on Political Rewind:

We are back on video on Friday. Watch us live at GPB.org/politicalrewind and Facebook.com/gpbnews. And watch us on GPB-TV at 7pm on Fridays.