So what does electioneering have to do with a scenario like Larry getting arrested for giving a water bottle to a voter in Georgia? Short told us that the connection between Georgia’s anti-food and anti-drink provision, Senate Bill 202, and electioneering is pretty flimsy.
“What Georgia was arguing is that if someone from a political party (like someone wearing a ‘Vote for This Person’ T-shirt) hands you a bottle of water, that could be considered electioneering,” Short said. But that argument falls apart because, as Short explained, “we had nonpartisan groups handing people water [in 2020] because they were standing in line for eight hours. So that argument was that this is just neighbors helping neighbors, like what Larry David [did in the episode]. They’re not wearing any campaign paraphernalia.”
Which brings us to the notion of “line warming,” which the American Bar Association defines as “an informal term for practices like providing items with minimal value, such as a water bottle or snacks, to people waiting in line to vote.” Line warming, unlike electioneering, doesn’t necessarily involve partisan groups or political campaigns. Anyone providing a snack or drink to someone in a voting line can be subject to line warming restrictions in states with these provisions on the books.
The SB 202 provision in Georgia is an example of legislation that outlaws line warming of any kind. “SB 202 gave criminal penalties to anyone who handed out food and water to voters who are in line,” Short told us. She went on to emphasize that this provision effectively served as a form of voter suppression in Georgia.
“In Georgia, we have so many hurdles for voting like other voter suppression laws, anti-voter laws that are on the books, [rules that] make it harder to register, to vote, to get an absentee ballot, and to have your vote counted,” she said. “We have really long lines in a lot of areas of Georgia, especially in Black and brown communities. The problem is that there are long lines in the first place, and so people are standing out in these lines for literal hours.”
