Television comedies like “Veep” and “Parks and Recreation” have long poked fun at the absurdities of national and local politics, but it’s rare for them to zero in on the fine print of laws passed by state legislatures.
So it was surprising that the end of Sunday night’s season premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” — look out, spoilers coming — took pretty, pretty, pretty clear aim at the major voting law Georgia passed in 2021.
The episode highlights a provision of the legislation that effectively bars third-party groups or anyone else who is not an election worker from providing food and water to voters waiting in line within a 150-foot radius of a polling place.
Larry David, who as the show’s curmudgeonly star is better known for breaking social norms than actual laws, travels to Atlanta in the episode. Toward the end, he must go find the aunt of Leon, his friend and roommate, and return a pair of glasses that he had been forced to borrow from her.
He locates her in a line to vote, sweating in the sweltering Georgia heat, where she says she’s been waiting for more than two and a half hours. Larry, incredulous, remembers he has a few water bottles in his car and brings her some water.
Instantly, police lights flash.
“Sir, in the navy blazer, put your hands in the air,” an officer says to a confused Mr. David. “You’re under arrest for violation of the Election Integrity Act.” He adds, “It is illegal for anyone in the state of Georgia to provide food or water to voters in line in the polls.”
“What?” exclaims Mr. David as the officers lead him away, gripping his arms. “That’s barbaric, what kind of law, are you serious?”
The episode ends with a mug shot of Mr. David, copping a glare and tan reminiscent of former President Donald J. Trump in the photo taken after he was booked in Georgia in August.
Violating the food and water ban in Georgia is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000, though it is unlikely that someone who ran afoul of that provision would be taken away in a police car. (Campaigning within the zone, otherwise known as “electioneering,” would be a different story.)
“While I am personally a big Larry David fan, the show is meant to entertain, not reflect reality here in Georgia,” Jordan Fuchs, the deputy secretary of state in Georgia, said in a statement. “SB 202 successfully bans the activists’ new and creative tactics to campaign at a polling place and ensures that Fulton County finally takes measures to shorten line times.”
Sunday’s episode was not the first time Mr. David — who last week tried to strangle Elmo on the “Today” show, rationalizing afterward that “somebody had to do it!” — has used “Curb” for political commentary.
In the previous season, he left a long line to vote, concluding that he and the voter ahead of him in line who was supporting the other candidate would cancel each other out, and therefore there was little point in casting a ballot. Mr. David’s preferred candidate lost by one vote.
In another episode, the cantankerous Mr. David realizes that wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat around liberal Los Angeles gets him out of many unwanted meetings and interactions.
In an interview with TheWrap, one of the show’s executive producers said that its writing team had decided to somehow incorporate the Georgia law back when it passed two years ago.
“We were always going to Atlanta because of that barbaric law that you can’t give anybody water or food when they’re in line for voting,” said the producer, Jeff Schaffer. “When we were talking about stories, Larry said: ‘This law is insane. I think it’d be funny if I got arrested for that.’”
Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/us/politics/larry-david-curb-your-enthusiasm-georgia-voting.html