Georgia stands out for expansive Republican efforts to erect new barriers to voting, after the GOP lost the presidential election and two Senate contests. As of February 19, lawmakers in more than 40 states had introduced more than 250 bills that included voting restrictions, according to the liberal-leaning Brennan Center of Justice at New York University, which is tracking the bills. Around the country, Republican-controlled state legislatures now are relying on election falsehoods to mount aggressive changes to voting rules. Georgia sits at the epicenter of a nationwide battle over voting rights - following repeated and baseless claims by Trump that he lost the White House last fall because of fraud. Biden won Georgia by just shy of 12,000 votes. But CNN’s analysis shows Black voters made up 34.6% of the voters who cast early ballots on the three weekend voting days that could be eliminated under the proposal from Georgia lawmakers - about 48,000 people, significantly more than President Joe Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump in the state. Only 26.9% of the voters who cast in-person early ballots in Georgia during the general election were Black, state voting records showed. Voting rights activists say the move attacks the “Souls to the Polls” programs that help drive turnout among Black churchgoers, a key Democratic constituency. Black Georgians disproportionately cast their ballots on the weekend days that Republican lawmakers want to eliminate as options in future elections, according to a CNN analysis of voting data from last November’s general election.Ī measure moving swiftly through the Georgia legislature would reduce the number of weekend days available for in-person early voting and ban casting ballots on the final Sunday of the early voting period.