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Georgia police arrest Black lawmaker for knocking as Gov. Brian Kemp signed new voting restrictions

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed into law a new law to restrict voting access in the state, shortly after the Republican-led legislature passed it along party lines. Georgia voted for President Biden in November, then elected two Democrats to the U.S. Senate in a January runoff election. “After the November election last year, I knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,” Kemp said. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer had an alternate explanation. Republicans lost presidential and senatorial elections in Georgia so they changed the rules to make it harder for black people to vote. It’s no more complicated than that. The law doesn’t make it harder to cheat; it is a form of cheating, a word that understates the malice of it. https://t.co/cnRWpp6czI — Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer) March 25, 2021 The new law makes it harder to request and drop off absentee ballots, changes early voting hours, replaces the elected secretary of state as head of the state election board with an appointee of the legislature, and gives that board the power to remove and replace county election officials. “That provision is widely seen as something that could be used to target Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold covering most of Atlanta,” The Associated Press reports. The law also “bars outside groups from handing out food or water to people in line to vote.” “As always, the burden of these changes falls most heavily on voters of color — those the Voting Rights Act was designed to protect,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in a statement. As Kemp was signing the law behind closed doors, state Rep. Park Cannon (D) was arrested by Capitol police for knocking. Cannon, a Black woman who represents Atlanta, was charged with felony obstruction of law enforcement and disrupting a session of the General Assembly. She faces 1 to 5 years in prison if convicted, AP reports. “Why are you arresting her?” This Facebook Live video from @TWareStevens shows the moment authorities detained state Rep. Park Cannon as @GovKemp was behind those doors signing elections restrictions into law. #gapol pic.twitter.com/U1xMJ6tZrY — Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 25, 2021 Cannon “was advised that she was disturbing what was going on inside and if she did not stop, she would be placed under arrest,” George State Police spokesman Lt. W. Mark Riley said. “Rep. Cannon refused to stop knocking on the door.” Tamara Stevens, an activist who was with Cannon, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Cannon was not being disruptive or disrespectful. “She knew he was signing a bill that would affect all Georgians — why would he hide behind closed doors?” Stevens said. “This isn’t a monarchy.” More stories from theweek.comIs Biden setting Harris up to fail?5 blisteringly funny cartoons about spring break superspreadersAt least 111 Texans died from February winter storm, mostly due to hypothermia, state says