Senator scolds Georgia governor: ‘He knows better’

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) on Sunday reacted to Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) praise of the state’s new voting bill, saying the governor “knows better.”

“He knows better,” Warnock told anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union,” following a clip of Kemp saying the state is “expanding the right to vote.”

“Unfortunately Georgia has a long history of voter suppression and when I say a long history I mean in recent years, and certainly it is ramped up with this bill that he signed into law,” Warnock added.

Kemp on Thursday signed a sweeping voting bill into law, tightening a number of voting procedures in the state, including voter identification requirements for absentee voting, limits on the use of ballot drop boxes, and giving state lawmakers control over elections.

One provision of the bill makes it a crime for people to hand out water or food to those standing in line to vote; the bill argues such provisions are a form of a gift that should be outlawed.

The bill has come under enormous criticism, but other states are also looking at similar measures.