In that memorable Curb Your Enthusiasm scene from the 2024 season, Larry David’s character gets arrested for handing out a water bottle at a Georgia polling place, a situation inspired by real voting laws. Specifically, Georgia’s controversial SB 202 law from 2021 restricts food and drink distribution within 150 feet of polling locations.
Although the law was pitched as a way to prevent electioneering, critics argue it discourages voters, particularly in communities with long wait times, by prohibiting even nonpartisan volunteers from providing refreshments to those in line.
Electioneering—actively campaigning near polling places—is already restricted across states, with varying distance limits (usually around 150 feet). While this helps maintain neutrality near voting sites, Georgia’s law and similar ones in other states blur the line between campaigning and neighborly acts of kindness, like handing out water.
The legal concept of line warming applies here, treating any food or drink offering as a potentially influential gesture, regardless of intent.
Georgia’s law faced significant backlash, with opponents claiming it targeted minority communities disproportionately affected by long voting lines. Fortunately, in 2023, a federal court blocked the portion of SB 202 that banned food and drink distribution in voting lines.
However, similar laws still exist in other states, like Florida and Arkansas, showing how this debate over voting rights and access continues to unfold.
In summary, while states like Georgia initially criminalized actions like Larry’s, court challenges and public outcry have begun to roll back such restrictions, though the issue remains contentious across the U.S.