Loeffler group says in brief judge should dismiss 'inflammatory' DOJ suit against Georgia voting law

close

Video

SCOTUS ruling on AZ voting law a ‘death knell’ for ‘politically motivated’ DOJ lawsuit against Georgia: Guy Benson

Fox News radio host Guy Benson and Fox News contributor Mo Elleithee debate the Supreme Court ruling

FIRST ON FOX: Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler's voting group, Greater Georgia, is filing a brief Thursday in the Northern District of Georgia calling for a judge to dismiss the Department of Justice's lawsuit against Georgia over its controversial new election security law, which Democrats say equates to voter suppression. 

The Justice Department's "inflammatory allegations," the Greater Georgia brief says, "are not only demonstrably false and not based in reality, but even if true, fail to state a valid claim" under the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Citing the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold Arizona's voting laws in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the brief continues to say that the "VRA requires ‘proof’ that the challenged state law or regulation establishes processes that ‘are not equally open to participation’ by members of a protected class… ‘[T]he mere fact that there is some disparity in impact,’ even if shown to exist, does not establish a violation.'"

"Plaintiff does not, and cannot, point to any aspect of any challenged provisions that is not equally and uniformly applied to the entire electorate nor can it identify any special restriction on Blacks’ participation in Georgia’s electoral process," the brief reads. 

GEORGIA AG FILES SCATHING RESPONSE TO DOJ'S ELECTION LAWSUIT, BLASTING IT AS ‘SHAMELESS POLITICAL ATTACK’

Loeffler's Greater Georgia group, which is formed in the model of Stacey Abrams' Fair Fight, advocated for the Georgia law called S.B. 202, which President Biden has equated to Jim Crow laws. Republicans, meanwhile, say the law on the balance expands voting opportunities and its election security provisions are not overly burdensome. 

"The DOJ's cynical lawsuit is a baseless political stunt engineered by Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams to attack a law that actually expands ballot access," Loeffler said in a statement. "We will continue to stand up to Washington's partisan assault on election integrity to ensure more voices – and votes – are heard."

"Viewed objectively and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances, the Act maintains Georgia’s place as a state where it is very easy to vote while addressing recent problems, adding reasonable and uniform safeguards and maintaining no-excuse absentee voting," the Greater Georgia brief says. 

As evidence, Greater Georgia cites the law's expansion of early voting and codification of drop boxes.

"For the first time in Georgia’s history the challenged Act codifies the ability of counties to provide drop boxes for the collection of absentee ballots—increasing voter access," the brief says, while emphasizing that the law also has important "safeguards" to promote "uniformity in how counties may utilize drop boxes." 

Democrats, meanwhile, cite restrictions on who can give water to voters standing in line as evidence that the law is meant to suppress minority votes. They also say that main reason such a law was passed in early 2021 is former President Trump's false claims that the presidential election – particularly in Georgia – was stolen. That connection, they say, proves that the law is simply meant to suppress minority votes in order to bolster Republicans' chances in future elections. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Greater Georgia brief also attacks the DOJ's standing to sue Georgia over its voting laws, alleging that the Justice Department can only bring a suit against the state to enforce the VRA. And because in Georgia's estimation there is no VRA violation, it says the suit is invalid.