Peach Tree Times

The U.S. Justice Department will sue the state of Georgia over its new voting laws on its claim that the controversial measures are intended to limit ballot access to Black voters, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

The lawsuit marks the first major action taken from the Biden administration to oppose a string of new voting measures enacted by Republican state legislatures that are said to be restrictive.

"@GreaterGeorgia will continue our fight to protect the Election Integrity Act, which expands voting access and secures our elections. We will deploy every necessary resource to help defend this legislation from liberal overreach in Washington D.C.," former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler said in a Tweet.

Garland said that Georgia saw record voter turnout and participation in the 2020 Presidential election cycle. The Justice Department's lawsuit was filed on the eighth anniversary of a Supreme Court decision to limit a provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Garland said that the lawsuit would not be the only measure taken and that more actions were being planned by the Justice Department to protect voter rights, NPR said. 

Georgia's Election Integrity Act was criticized as being passed through a rushed process by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, NPR reported.