Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on Sunday spoke out against measures included in proposed federal voting rights legislation ahead of a visit from President BidenJoe BidenAre we investing trillions on what matters? Biden eulogizes Reid as a fighter ‘for the America we all love’ at memorial service Fox News tops ratings for coverage on Jan. 6 anniversary events MORE and Vice President Harris to his state to campaign for those very laws.
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Raffensperger praised Georgia’s current voting laws and suggested that a constitutional amendment be made stipulating that only American citizens be permitted to vote in elections, pointing to some cities like New York City that have recently moved to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
“So that’s another, you know, solid common sense federal reform measure if they really want to get serious about election reform,” Raffensperger said, appearing to refer to Biden and Harris.
Host Margaret Brennan pointed out that one of the bills that Biden and Harris are promoting — the Freedom to Vote Act — also includes standardized ID requirements for voting such as having voters present documents like utility bills.
“It does not have photo ID and photo ID is the most secure way of … making sure that you can identify who the voter is and I think that’s very important,” Raffensperger said. “And then they also want same day registration and that’s just, you know, pretty difficult for any election official to manage. And I think that undermines trust in elections.”
Brennan also noted Georgia’s history of racial discrimination and how federal oversight was required when changing election laws in the state up until 2013. She asked Raffensperger if he saw any merit in requiring federal oversight in states with a history of racial discrimination.
“Georgia was so far ahead. We’re not where we were in 1965,” he said. “I think that we have shown that Georgia has fair and honest elections. We have record registration, we have record turnout. Anyone wants to vote in Georgia has tremendous opportunities to vote early, vote with no excuse absentee voting with photo ID and then also show up on election day.”