ACLJ Files a Critical Brief To Fight Federal Power Grab

By 

Jordan Sekulow

|
August 2, 2021

4 min read

Election Law

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We just filed a brief TODAY in support of the State of Georgia against the lawsuit brought forth by the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ). We are representing 57 Members of Congress in our brief against the Biden lawsuit that challenges the new voting law in Georgia.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland claimed serious allegations against the Georgia state legislature for creating this new law. Attorney General Garland delivered remarks explaining the reasoning behind the lawsuit:

Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia’s election laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

ACLJ Director of Policy Harry Hutchison debunked this allegation:

Well, there is not a scintilla of evidence in support of Merrick Garland’s claim. Indeed, in Georgia it is easier for African Americans to vote than African Americans in Delaware [Biden’s home state] and many other states. In Georgia, they have expanded the hours of voting, they are allowing absentee voting, they are simply ensuring greater election integrity and election security. And African Americans by and large support what Georgia is doing, unlike what Merrick Garland is saying.

In the Georgia voting law SB 202, lawmakers even added two extra days to early voting. The Left didn’t like that either. ACLJ Senior Military Analyst Wes Smith explained why:

This new Georgia law actually allows and requires Saturday and Sunday early voting, which is something that many states don’t have, including President Biden’s home state of Delaware. But what they did on this – on the Saturday and Sunday in Georgia law it says you have to be open from 9-5. Normal voting is 7-7 throughout the week. What President Biden comes out and says is they are limiting the hours, that they are shortening the hours from 7-7 to 9-5, failing to mention that those new hours were for expanded voting on Saturday and Sunday. Throughout the week it is still 7-7, and local counties can even extend it past that deadline in the evening if there are a lot of people lined up, but they don’t mention that.

So, the Left doesn’t like extra days for early voting, and they have made it very clear they don’t like the idea of voter ID laws, proving that you are a citizen to be able to vote. In a New York Times opinion, the article reads, “There is no good reason to have to be a citizen to be able to vote.”

ACLJ Chief Counsel and my dad Jay Sekulow explains the reason:

First of all, we are a constitutional republic – a representative government – representative of the people. Wh[o] are those people? The people that are the citizens of the United States of America. Not people who happened to be here. What is next? You’re on vacation for two weeks, so you get to vote. You happen to be in the United States, so you get to vote?

People lost faith in our voting system after the 2020 election. Regardless of all of the different theories behind why, it is important that we reestablish trust with the American people when it comes to our election process.

My dad summed up what the ACLJ is doing to ensure the integrity of our elections:

What we are doing is actually looking at the law and saying this law as drafted and passed by the Georgia legislature meets the constitutional requirements of the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution, in other words it is constitutional. So that is why we entered even at the trial court level which is rare for us at the ACLJ – it is not unheard of – but very rare, but we did it here because it is that important. We believe in voter integrity. We oppose discrimination and racism in any form. But requiring voter ID . . . to go see Merrick Garland’s office or to go visit one of his deputies, you have to show ID. To get into the Supreme Court of the United States, you have to show ID. To get on an airplane, you have to show ID. So, to turn this into a racial argument is ridiculous. . . . The reality is – is the law constitutional or not? In our view the Georgia law is, and that is why we are defending it at the trial court stage.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of our brief supporting Georgia’s voting law amidst the Biden Department of Justice lawsuit against Georgia. 

Watch the full broadcast below.