Warnock admits to signing email with false information about Georgia voting law
Georgia senator claims provisions were still under consideration when email was approved
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., admitted to signing off on false information in a third-party advocacy group's email that went out about the Georgia voting law after it passed.
The Washington Post flagged an email Warnock signed from the liberal nonprofit 3.14 Action as an example of Democratic misinformation about the sweeping Georgia voting reforms, as it claimed the new law restricted weekend early voting and ended no-excuse mail voting.
"Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, one of two new Democratic senators representing Georgia, signed an email sent out by the advocacy group 3.14 Action after the law passed, which claimed it ended no-excuse mail voting and restricted early voting on the weekends — also early proposals that did not become law," the Post reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Those ideas were considered but did not make it into the final bill, which actually expands early voting in Georgia to 17 days, including two Saturdays. It also still allows no-excuse absentee voting, albeit with a shorter window of 67 days to apply.
WARNOCK DECLINES TO OPPOSE GEORGIA BOYCOTTS OVER NEW ELECTION LAW
The statement went out on March 30, five days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the final bill into law.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., talks to a reporter as he leaves the Capitol at the conclusion of the second day of the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A Warnock campaign spokesperson told Fox News it approved the text of the group's email before Kemp signed the bill, while the provisions were still under consideration. The spokesperson noted the Georgia Senate passed a bill to end no-excuse absentee voting earlier in March, and the Georgia House originally proposed restricting weekend early voting.
However, neither provision made it into the final bill, as the 3.14 Action statement Warnock signed appeared to claim.
The law has been the subject of fierce controversy, with President Biden and other Democrats likening it to racist "Jim Crow"-era restrictions. Kemp and other state Republicans have pushed back on the criticism and said the reforms strengthen voting integrity.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WARNOCK DELETES EASTER TWEET AMID BACKLASH
Biden has also disseminated false information about the law, getting Four Pinocchios from The Washington Post's Fact-Checker for claiming the law limits voting hours.
The firestorm around the law has already economically hurt Georgia. Bowing to liberal pressure and outrage from Georgia-based corporations like Delta and Coca-Cola, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred pulled the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta's Truist Park, costing the area up to an estimated $100 million in potential revenue.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Warnock said he was disappointed by MLB's decision but framed it as the fault of Republicans, calling it an "unfortunate" consequence of the voting bill.
"It is my hope that businesses, athletes, and entertainers can protest this law not by leaving Georgia but by coming here and fighting voter suppression head on, and hand-in-hand with the community," he said in a statement.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The new Georgia lawmaker is a staunch supporter of the For The People Act, a sweeping national voting bill which Republicans have slammed as a massive federal overreach and Democratic power grab.