Tyler Perry slams Georgia voter legislation as 'unconstitutional,' calls on DOJ to investigate
Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law last week, prompting many to call for boycotts
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tyler Perry is speaking out about the new voting legislation that was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week.
Perry, who runs a massive television and movie studio in Atlanta, issued a statement to Fox News decrying the new legislation, arguing it is "unconstitutional" and calling on the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into what he calls a "voter suppression law."
The new law adds early voting access for most counties, adding an additional mandatory Saturday and codifying Sunday hours as optional, according to a report from Georgia Public Broadcasting. It also standardizes early voting hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or as long as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; makes it mandatory to present a state-issued ID when requesting an absentee ballot; limits the number of drop boxes in the state, requiring them to be placed at early voting locations and only available while the precinct is open; and prohibits handing out food and water within 150 feet of the polling place or 25 feet of any voter in line, although poll workers are exempted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The new Georgia law also shortens runoff reelections from nine weeks to four weeks.
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Tyler Perry called on the Department of Justice to investigate Georgia's new voting legislation. (Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
"As a Georgia resident and business owner I’ve been here a few times with the anti-abortion bill and the LGBTQ discrimination bill," Perry said in his statement. "They all sent a shockwave through Georgia and the nation but none of them managed to succeed."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The star went on to call for the Department of Justice to look into the new law, which was passed by Gov. Kemp last Thursday after swiftly making its way through the state’s legislature.
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"I’m resting my hope in the DOJ taking a hard look at this unconstitutional voter suppression law that harkens to the Jim Crow era," he continued. "As some consider boycotting, please remember that we did turn Georgia blue and there is a gubernatorial race on the horizon — that’s the beauty of a democracy."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Perry’s comments echo those made by President Joe Biden who also linked the law to segregation era politics.
Tyler Perry spoke out about Georgia's new voting legislation. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
"This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century. It must end," Biden said in a written statement.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Republicans in the state instead rushed through an un-American law to deny people the right to vote. This law, like so many others being pursued by Republicans in statehouses across the country, is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience," Biden said.
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"Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over. It adds rigid restrictions on casting absentee ballots that will effectively deny the right to vote to countless voters. And it makes it a crime to provide water to voters while they wait in line – lines Republican officials themselves have created by reducing the number of polling sites across the state, disproportionately in Black neighborhoods," he continued.