The Georgia Senate proved to be far more sensible than the House of Representatives when senators rejected a House-approved bill that would have tasked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with investigating local elections.

Voter intimidation is voter suppression. 

The very prospect of a GBI investigation is intimidating. 

You don’t have be guilty of anything or trying to get away with doing anything to be intimidated. 

Have you gotten nervous when you see a state trooper with lights flashing on the interstate even when you know you are not speeding and have not committed any traffic violations? 

To be perfectly clear, only legally registered voters should vote in Georgia elections.

To be equally clear, only legally registered voters are voting in Georgia elections. 

Widespread, systemic voter fraud simply does not exist. 

What would be the point of tasking the state’s top criminal investigative agency with policing crimes that do not exist?

There is only one answer to that question that makes any sense whatsoever: intimidation. 

Who would want to intimidate anyone from voting in Georgia and exactly who are they trying to intimidate? 

Perhaps you should ask the House members who voted in favor of the ill-conceived measure that has been soundly rejected by fellow Republican state senators. 

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been beyond clear that the 2020 presidential election in Georgia was not plagued with voter fraud and Republican voters who sat out the presidential race while voting for down ballot Republicans — about 30,000 of them — are the only reason former President Donald Trump did not win Georgia. 

Raffensperger, a longtime, loyal conservative, told a joint meeting of the Valdosta Rotary Club and the Valdosta North Rotary Club, “There has been an awful lot of misinformation out there,” debunking election fraud conspiracy theories. 

Of course, he is also pitching his effort to make sure that non-U.S. citizens do not vote in Georgia while at the same time admitting that is not happening. In fact, on the few occasions where non-U.S. citizens have attempted to register to vote in Georgia, they have been prevented from doing so. That means the system, as it is, works. 

The Georgia General Assembly has pandered to conspiracy theorists by adding restrictive voting measures, saying the intent was to safeguard elections, when at the same time elections officials have adamantly said Georgia’s election are already safe. 

Let’s be honest, Republicans running for office would prefer that Democrats would not vote and Democrats running for office would prefer that Republicans not vote, but that is quite simply not the way our Republic is supposed to work. 

Everyone should want every legally registered voter to vote — regardless of party, gender, race or ideology — that would be democracy at its best. 

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