Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joined fellow Republicans Wednesday in calling for an end to allowing all voters in the state to submit absentee ballots without providing justification for why they cannot vote in person. Many states instituted "no-excuse" absentee voting in 2020 so that voters could avoid crowds at polling sites during the coronavirus pandemic, although Georgia has had it for 15 years. When asked why Raffensberger's office wanted to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, the secretary of state's general counsel Ryan Germany explained, "It's harder to provide confidence in that process." Republicans in the Georgia State Senate have said they will push to make this change, as well as the voter ID requirement for absentee ballots, after President Trump narrowly lost the state by less than 12,000 votes. According to the Georgia secretary of state's office, President-elect Joe Biden received nearly 850,000 absentee votes compared to just over 450,000 for Trump.

Source: Fox News December 23, 2020 17:26 UTC