Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill on Wednesday empowering the state’s investigations agency to probe accusations of voter fraud, a power previously held only by the secretary of state.
Kemp said the measure would help ensure secure and fair elections in the state; however, critics say it was an unnecessary expense that served only to undermine voter confidence amid former President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
SB 441 allows the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to investigate and issue subpoenas over allegations of voter fraud and election crimes. It also includes measures aimed at reducing criminal case backlogs.
The bill passed along party lines in the GOP-dominated state legislature, 98-69 in the House and 33-22 in the Senate.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kemp promised state elections will be “secure and fair,” noting that along with signing the bill, he allocated $504,116 to hire election investigators.
Kemp is facing a primary against former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who has Trump’s endorsement. The winner will face Democrat Stacey Abrams, whom Kemp beat in the 2018 election.
The new law is similar to one passed in Florida last month, which creates a 25-member committee called the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which falls under the authority of its Secretary of State.
In a statement, the watchdog group Common Cause in Georgia criticized the new law, saying the state will fork up more than half a million dollars on an unnecessary election police force.
“If the Bureau is now entrusted with investigating anything that could create doubt about our elections — we suggest they start, first, by investigating those who have been profiting by creating such doubt,” the group’s spokeswoman, Aunna Dennis, said in a statement.
“So many different groups and partisan extremists have been working to undermine confidence in Georgia’s elections,” she added.
The new law comes a year after Kemp signed into law restrictions on Georgia’s voting system that critics argue are reminiscent of Jim Crow laws in the past.