Among a number of provisions listed in the 48-page measure is a section that would require advance voting for primaries, elections and runoffs to begin on the fourth Monday “immediately prior” to Election Day and end on the Friday before. The voting would be conducted on weekdays from 9 to 5 and the same hours on the second Saturday before a primary or election.

However, counties and municipalities would be barred from holding advance voting on Sundays, a day that Black churches in the state have previously used to increase voter participation among congregants with “Souls to the Polls” efforts.

“The Black church has always been engaged in trying to get our people to vote,” Jackson said. “So we used 'Souls to the Polls' as a means particularly to get our seniors and other members of our congregations to vote, to gather for worship and following worship to go to the polls to cast our ballot.”

Jackson said the new bill “is nothing more than another attempt to suppress the Black vote.”

“Let’s just be honest: This bill is racist,” he continued, before taking aim at arguments Republican legislators have made in recent weeks claiming that the new election bills following Democratic victories are aimed at increasing security.