Georgia lawmakers should not be proud to be mentioned in the same breath as state legislators in Texas and Alabama when it comes to voting rights.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 changed America — in a very good way.

Now lawmakers in Georgia, Texas, Alabama and several other states are changing voting laws in their states in the worst of ways.

The landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, prohibited racial discrimination in the election process.

It was the most important and impactful piece of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.

The Act prohibited states from passing any voting restrictions that discriminated against any person because of race or ethnicity.

The Act worked and massively increased voter registration and turnout among Black voters across the U.S., especially in the South where voter suppression was commonplace.

One of the many provisions of the historic legislation was a requirement that certain states and jurisdictions must receive pre-clearance from the federal government before making any changes to voting laws. The Act included a formula used to determine which jurisdictions would be required to obtain pre-clearance before making any changes. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially said the formula was arbitrary and therefore unconstitutional, effectively ending the practice of pre-clearance.

Since that time, some states — including Georgia — began changing voting practices which arguably have amounted to new kinds of voter suppression. Those changes include Georgia’s controversial exact match law which ostensibly blocks voters if there are even slight variations in the voter registration documents and other forms of identification.

Georgia’s most recent voting reform laws now require an ID for submitting an absentee ballot and prohibits local election offices from sending out unsolicited applications for absentee ballots. Georgia’s law makes it a crime to pass out food or drinks to voters waiting in line, a common practice in areas where hours-long waits to vote have occurred. 

While Gov. Brian Kemp has said the new laws make it easier for Georgia residents to vote, people most affected by the changes say the reforms will make it harder on people of color who have historically been subjected to many forms of voter intimidation and suppression.

Georgia’s U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues to champion the federal For the People Act, a Democrat-led proposal and update to the Voting Rights Act, but passing the federal reform is an uphill battle. The U.S. Senate is expected to consider the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — which passed in the House Aug. 24, along party lines — when it reconvenes Sept. 13. Last month, Senate Republicans blocked the For the People Act.

Of course, the urgency around the federal laws exist because lawmakers in states including Georgia, Alabama and Texas — among others — rushed to change voting laws in their states quickly after the stunning Republican loss in the 2020 presidential election. Losing an election should not prompt lawmakers to change the rules but rather should cause them to reevaluate their strategies, messaging and values.

Nothing is more patriotic and more American than a robust voter turnout. Every lawmaker, and every American, should want as many people as possible, who are legally registered to vote, to vote in as many elections as possible, regardless of race, ethnicity, party, creed or color.

It is beyond belief that as our nation pauses to remember the horrific attacks on the land of the free and home of the brave on 9/11, 20 years ago, that now lawmakers would be doing anything to make it more difficult for Americans to exercise our most important freedom and right, the right of all Americans to vote in open and free elections. 

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and the president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.