The New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter Fund, and RISE, Inc. filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and several State Election Board officials challenging provisions of SB 202, a controversial voting bill passed earlier in the day. The organizations argue that the bill will, “[make] it harder for lawful Georgia voters to participate in the State’s elections,” particularly for “the State’s minority, young, poor, and disabled citizens.”

Among its provisions, the bill, “[p]rohibits third-parties—including voter engagement organizations—from collecting absentee ballot applications,” “[i]nvalidates ballots cast by lawful voters before 5:00 p.m. in a precinct other than the one to which they were assigned, regardless of the reason or their ability to travel to another location,” and “[b]ans mobile polling places.”

The organizations refer to the various measures of the bill as a “grab-bag” that “disparately impact[s] Black voters and effectively den[ies] them an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process and elect candidates of their choice.” Black voters in Georgia have been historically repressed and discriminated against and have “been further hindered by significant and disparate effects of discrimination in housing, education, employment, health, [and] criminal justice.”

The organizations ask that the court declare “that the challenged provisions in the Voter Suppression Bill violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as undue burdens on the right to vote” and the Voting Rights Act, and that the court prohibit the defendants and their agents from enforcing the bill.

The Georgia General Assembly passed the bill in the aftermath of the 2020 General Election, following scrutiny of Georgia’s election practices and a recount of ballots cast. Its stated purpose is, “to restore voters’ confidence in Georgia’s election administration,” and, “ensure election integrity.” In their lawsuit, the organizations argue that such measures are unnecessary because “legislators and the Secretary himself have admitted that Georgia’s elections are already safe and secure,” and that the bill will be unduly burdensome on voters.