AG Bondi Dismisses Biden-Era Suit That Accused Georgia of Suppressing Black Voters

Georgia reported record-breaking voter participation in elections subsequent to the law being enacted.

A view of the Atlanta skyline on May 20, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced on March 31 that she is directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to end its lawsuit against the state of Georgia over its 2021 election law, Senate Bill 202, reversing a high-profile challenge originally brought under the Biden administration.

In June 2021, the DOJ under the Biden administration alleged that Georgia lawmakers enacted Senate Bill 202 with the intent to suppress the votes of black Georgians. The DOJ had cited violations of the Voting Rights Act in its complaint and accused state officials of racial discrimination in election policy.

“Contrary to the Biden administration’s false claims of suppression, Black voter turnout actually increased under SB 202,” Bondi said in the statement announcing the decision. “Georgians deserve secure elections, not fabricated claims of false voter suppression meant to divide us.”

Passed by Georgia’s Republican-led Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in March 2021, SB 202 introduced reforms including mandatory photo identification for absentee ballots, limitations on drop boxes, and expanded early voting requirements.

Supporters said the law would improve election security and restore public confidence in the electoral process, while critics argued that it would restrict voting access for minority communities.

Calling the Georgia voter law “sick” and “un-American,” President Joe Biden labeled it as “Jim Crow in the 21st century,” referring to Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The law drew widespread condemnation from Democratic lawmakers, civil rights groups, and major businesses such as Major League Baseball, which moved its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest.

State officials later said it caused substantial economic losses, something that Bondi also noted in her announcement, saying that by some estimates it cost the state “over $100 million in economic losses.”

When the Justice Department filed suit against the state in June 2021, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland alleged that SB 202 had been enacted “with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color.”

However, Georgia reported record-breaking voter participation in subsequent elections.

Early voting turnout in the 2022 primaries surged by 149 percent compared with 2020, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

Chad Mizelle, acting associate attorney general and DOJ chief of staff, said the dismissal of the suit was part of a broader effort to “dismantle weaponized litigation.”

“There is nothing racist about protecting elections—baseless claims of Jim Crow-style discrimination are the real insult,” Mizelle said in a statement.

Bondi said the dismissal aligns with the priorities set by President Donald Trump and members of his administration, who have vowed to focus federal civil rights enforcement on what they describe as real cases of discrimination, rather than politically charged litigation.

Bondi said the department is committed to “ensuring fair, lawful elections for all Americans.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.

Mimi Nguyen Ly and Tom Ozimek contributed to this article.