Georgia voting law is not suppression

I officially ask folks who have ranted about Georgia's new voting law to read the law before they comment, especially Mr. Kinney of Vernon Hills ("Your Views" 4/20/21).

Twenty-one civil rights leaders and prominent Black conservatives defended Georgia's new election law, rejecting opponents' comparisons to Jim Crow laws. Signatories from Georgia include the Rev. Alveda King, niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and head of Alveda King Ministries; Michael Lancaster, director of the Frederick Douglass Foundation; and Vernon Jones, who, like King, is a former Georgia state representative.

"It has become clear that even well-intentioned critics of the law simply have no idea what the law is," the Black leaders write in the letter, adding: Their letter takes exception to mischaracterizations of the Georgia law, which they call a "proper, honest step in reforming the election process." (Source: "The Daily Signal" from The Heritage Foundation, 4/20/21.)

The Georgia law requires voters to present identification in submitting absentee ballots, such as a driver's license number; codifies ballot drop boxes; and expands weekend voting. It slightly reduces the number of days for early voting from 19 to 17 and gives voters an earlier deadline to mail absentee ballots. It prevents electioneering by not allowing people to offer water, etc., to those waiting in line to vote. Election officials, however, can provide such to voters waiting in line.

The Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonprofit that works with state elections officials, ranked Georgia as among 34 states in the "top tier" for voting access because it allows early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots, the Albany (Georgia) Herald newspaper reported Monday. Note: President Biden's Delaware is in the lowest tier for voting access.

James Thompson

Lake Barrington