The Georgia Bureau of Investigation could be empowered to investigate claims of voter fraud and subpoena records under a bill passed by lawmakers Monday night.
Under S.B. 441, the independent agency would have the authority to conduct voter fraud investigations without a request from a local law enforcement branch. The measure was added by Republicans, who control both chambers, to a bill addressing criminal data processing in the hours before the legislative session ended at midnight, prompting opposition from some Democratic lawmakers and voting rights advocates who say the bill is undergirded by conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Georgia leaders stripped down the bill to include only one element of its original proposal, which increases the amount of time voters can take off work to cast their ballot during the early voting period. That version of the election bill passed Monday night. Under current law, voter fraud investigations are handled by the elections division in the office of the Secretary of State. That position is currently held by Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who has become a target among Trump-aligned Republicans, particularly after his January 2021 call with former President Donald Trump, in which he pushed back on the suggestion that he "find" enough votes to flip 2020 election results out of favor for now-President Joe Biden.