Kira Lerner is a democracy reporter for States Newsroom. She was previously managing editor of Votebeat, a pop-up newsroom covering election administration and voting in eight states during the 2020 election.
Many of the new laws target people who assist voters, including nonprofit groups that do voter registration and friends and neighbors who may help a voter by bringing their mail-in ballot to a drop box for them.
In March 2021, four months after former President Donald Trump claimed that voter fraud cost him the state’s electoral votes and the presidency, Georgia’s Republican governor signed a law criminalizing people who give food or drinks to voters waiting at the polls.
Republican state lawmakers across the country are ramping up their drive to enact voting and election-related laws in time for crucial 2022 midterm elections.
