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Predawn hearings shroud Georgia election bills in secrecy

There was no agenda and no video stream for the controversial GOP bills.

ATLANTA — Republicans at the state capitol defended the secrecy that cloaked two senate hearings on election bills Wednesday. Democrats accused them of trying to keep the public away from what’s likely to be the most controversial legislation to emerge this year.

The two senate subcommittees advanced four Republican election bills before a lot of folks knew they were even under consideration.

"This gamesmanship is unacceptable," said an angry state Sen. Elena Parent (D-Atlanta) during a speech to the Senate chamber Wednesday, after the meetings had adjourned.

Parent accused Republicans of trying to hide their bills from the public. They had scheduled two simultaneous subcommittee hearings at the state capitol – in two rooms in separate buildings. The meetings started at 7 a.m., about 20 minutes before sunrise.

The online announcements of the meetings included no agenda. And despite cameras in the committee rooms, they chose not to stream the hearings.

"Well, it was a subcommittee meeting," said state Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania), the ethics committee chairman, when asked about it after the meetings had ended.  "It is the policy of the (GOP) caucus not to livestream subcommittees."

Yet on Feb. 10, a Senate judiciary subcommittee livestreamed a meeting - from the same room as one of the blacked-out subcommittee meetings Wednesday.

The senate ethics subcommittees advanced bills that would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, and would require a photocopied voter ID with mailed-in absentee ballot applications. Republicans say they submitted the bills because voters in their districts have called for tighter voting laws after Democrat Joe Biden won the November election.

"The motivation, to me, is to suppress the vote," said state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur). He says they’re bad bills that need more public input and less legislative skullduggery.

"The meetings themselves were kept hidden from the public," Sen. Parent told reporters.

Burns said 7 a.m. meetings are "not really" unusual at the state capitol. Countered Parent:  "I’ve never seen a 7 a.m. committee meeting."

There will be another 7 a.m. meeting Thursday – when the senate ethics committee takes up four more Republican election bills. This time, the committee has announced the agenda and plans to stream the meeting.

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