Georgia Bans Food and Drink Distribution to Waiting Voters is Upheld by Judge

A federal judge rejected a portion of the Georgia election law banning food and drink distribution to those waiting at polling stations.

The decision on Aug. 18 comes in a case brought a group led by the Stacey Abrams-linked voting and redistricting advocacy organization New Georgia Project, which challenged various parts of a multi-pronged election reform measure SB 202–also known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021 (pdf)–passed by the Georgia Legislature in March 2021 with no support from Democrats in both the state House and Senate.

The plaintiffs claimed that the provision prohibiting food and water distribution to voters in line for voting posed a threat their freedom of speech. This includes the right encourage participation in elections. In order to block the provision banning food and drink distribution while the case is pending, the voting activists sought a preliminary injunction.

The state claimed that this provision was needed to guard against polling conditions that might raise concerns about illegal voting or voter buying. The state lawyers claimed that the provision was not necessary to protect against conditions at polling places that could raise concerns over possible illegal campaigning or vote buying.

U.S. District judge J.P. Boulee sided in favor of the state and declined to issue the preliminary order. According to him, the provision is not likely to be blocked in the near future. He also stated that the rules for general elections are different from those for primaries. This could cause confusion for election workers.

He said in the 74-page order (pdf) that the plaintiffs didn’t meet the standard to win a preliminary injunction against providing food and drinks to those waiting in line to vote within 150 feet of a polling place.

But he noted that the activist groups were “substantially likely to succeed on the merits of their claim” in seeking to remove the ban on providing food and drink within 25 feet of any voter standing in line for those outside the 150 feet buffer zone of polling locations. He said outside 150 feet zone, such a restriction on food and drink for those waiting in line “is unreasonable and significantly impinges on Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” and “is an unconstitutional regulation of expressive conduct.”

“Because that zone [within 25 feet of a voter] is tied to the position of the voter in line and fluctuates based on the location of the voter, it has no fixed line of demarcation and no limit,” he wrote. In practice this zone could extend to thousands of feet from the polling station and across private property, given the hours-long queues that some voters have witnessed .”

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Boulee has refused to issue any preliminary injunction, so the prohibition on food and water for voters at the polling stations will continue in force until the November general elections.

Voting activist groups were disappointed by the decision, but they said that they would continue with their lawsuit.

“While Georgia’s cruel ban on line relief stands for now, we look forward to presenting our broader case against SB 202 at trial, where we will prove that many provisions in the legislation violate federal law and the Constitution,” said voting rights attorney for ACLU of Georgia Rahul Garabadu.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, one of multiple defendants in the lawsuit, said that Boulee’s decision is “a big win for rule of law,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

” When the Georgian Election Integrity Act was signed, the woke mob attacked the law with exaggerations, scare tactics, and legal arguments that failed to hold in court,” Raffensperger reported. This ruling will mean that Georgia’s elections are governed by laws enacted by Georgian elected officials .”

Republicans claim that this law does not discourage voting or limit it. They also point out the high turnout in primary elections and the short lines at these events. Critics say that it unfairly impacts marginalized voters and many Democrats pledge to repeal it.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is seeking reelection this year after easily beating runner up David Perdue in the GOP primary, and will be facing Democrat challenger Stacey Abrams, a former state representative who Kemp beat in 2018.

While this is happening, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (a Democrat) is trying to fend of a challenge by Republican Herschel Walker.

This report was contributed by the Associated Press.

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