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Posted: 2021-03-25T22:40:20Z | Updated: 2021-03-26T17:58:48Z

The Georgia legislature passed a sweeping measure on Thursday that will dramatically limit access to voting following continual and unfounded claims of fraud after the state voted Democrat in the 2020 presidential race.

Just hours later, Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who has made voter purges a cornerstone of his career, signed the bill critics have called Jim Crow 2.0 into law.

The new measure will impose new identification requirements on those who vote by mail, imperiling the 200,000 voters who dont have a drivers license or state ID number. It will also limit the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots, criminalize voting groups from giving those standing in line to vote food and water and shorten the period for runoff races.

In a statement, Rep. Nikema Williams (D), chair of the Georgia Democratic Party , called the measure the most flagrantly racist, partisan power grab of elections in modern Georgia history.

Though its unsurprising that Brian Kemp, the architect of voter suppression, is tying his legacy to this racist, anti-democratic bill, its no less shameful, Williams said. He and his fellow Republicans are insulting the memory of heroes like John Lewis who risked their lives for the right to vote, and disempowering the millions of Georgians who have exercised that sacred right as a result.

The bill did weaken some controversial provisions in earlier drafts, including a potential ban on Sunday voting, which were largely seen as transparent attempts to rein in Souls to the Polls programs, which have traditionally been used by Black communities to get congregations to vote after church. Critics of the bill, however, argue it will still unduly target communities of color that propelled President Joe Biden to the White House and saw the state elect two Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

The bill passed with votes of 34-20 in the Senate and 100-75 in the House.