in 2021, georgia was one of the 19 states to pass new voter restriction laws, and now, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the states republican-led legislature want to see do it again. the republican leader of the georgia state senate promised to introduce a fresh batch of bills that could go even further than what we saw in 2021. joining me now to discuss this and more, georgia state representative, bee win, also candidate for georgia state. i want to start out by asking your reaction to what went down in washington last week, it was a pretty seismic week if you ve been tracking the decline of our democracy. have you given up on federal voting rights action to come in? look, and, you know, as soon as we recognize that our voting rights were on the block, having gone through legislative session where two page bill turned into 98 page voter suppression bill
bent on seeing all sides that it feels to become committed to either side. it is a liberalism that is so objectively analytical that it is not subjectively committed. it is a liberalism which is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. and it s that lukewarm liberalism king warned about in 1957 that is infecting our country today. make no mistake about it. senators manchin and sinema are so committed to this that all sides nonsense are standing idly by their gop state flooded assault on our democracy. and, if there s anyone in this country that thinks that republicans in congress are going to sign on to a bipartisan, watered down voting rights bill, call me. i have a bridge to sell you. in 2021, georgia was one of the 19 states to pass new voter restriction laws. and now, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the state
was push back. recall the jim crow laws and poll taxes and literacy tests and intimidation and violence. it is nice to think that is all in the past. history is a continuum. the design whose aim is not to encourage every qualified voter to vote, but impede those of suspected by where they live and where they are from and how much they make or the color of their skin to vote for one party or another. republicans are trying to prevent democrats from voting, to gain or maintain power. last year, 19 states enacted voter restriction laws over widespread voter fraud that did not exist. the 2020 election has been litigated and reviewed and audits have been done. none turned up widespread voter
the march is about to start here in downtown phoenix. there s a pre-program that is taking place right now. i was told that martin luther king iii is in town along with andrea waters king here, and i was told that they are getting out of their car, if you can bear with me a moment here, alex. they wanted to come to arizona specifically. we re talking about 19 states that passed voter restriction laws here over the course of the last year. of course the concern for particularly democrats and voters at large is the extent to what happens this year in 2022 ahead of these midterm elections. you also have secretary of state candidates in michigan, arizona, wisconsin, who have suggested that donald trump won the 2020 election. those individuals are on the ballot here in 2022, and when we re talking about arizona and being at the forefront of this, one of those individuals, is running for secretary of state.
significant. 19 states have passed 34 voter restriction laws in 2021 alone, more than any other year in the last decade. in arizona, and florida, republican politicians want to establish election security police forces. a candidate for governor in georgia is campaigning on the same idea. and it is a hot mess in texas, where hundreds of mail-in ballot applications are being rejected under a new restrictive voting law. joining me now, ari berman, at mother jones and author of give us the vote. thank you for coming back to the sunday show. harris county, texas, their judge linda idalgo says confusion has led to one in three vote by mail applications being flagged for rejection. what is it about this voter i.d. situation that is making that possible? good morning, jonathan. thank you for having me back. well, the texas law makes it