Georgia state lawmaker arrested as Gov. Kemp delivers remarks about signing voting bill into law
ATLANTA – A Democratic Georgia state representative was arrested after she reportedly knocked on Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s door as he was holding a news conference about signing a voting bill into law.
>> Visit WSBTV.com for complete coverage of this developing story
According to WSB-TV, the Georgia State Patrol arrested state Rep. Park Cannon, of Atlanta, at the Capitol on Thursday and took her to the Fulton County Jail, where she was charged with obstructing law enforcement and disrupting a General Assembly session or meeting. She was later released, she tweeted early Friday.
“I am not the first Georgian arrested for fighting voter suppression,” Cannon wrote shortly after midnight. “I’d love to say I’m the last, but we know that isn’t true.”
The arrest came as Kemp was issuing remarks from his office about SB 202, a voting reform bill that he signed Thursday after it passed along party lines in the Georgia Senate, WSB-TV reported.
The law – which requires voters to provide a photo ID to obtain a mail-in ballot, limits the time period for requesting absentee ballots and puts more restrictions on ballot drop boxes – also gives the State Election Board the power to take over local election boards, the news outlet reported.
“After the November election last year, I knew like so many of you that significant reforms to our state elections were needed,” Kemp, a Republican, said in his news conference. “When voting in person in the state of Georgia, you must have a photo ID. It only makes sense for the same standard to apply to absentee ballots as well.”
Republican lawmakers praised the legislation.
“I think it’s a very fair bill, and I know those who choose to monetize this issue will continue to pound the drums of division and discord, but I think the process worked,” said state House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican.
However, Democratic critics called the law an attempt to suppress votes.
“We are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we’ve seen since the Jim Crow era,” said state Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, a Democrat, according to WSB-TV.
– The Associated Press contributed to this article.
