Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger penned a tongue-in-cheek letter to Larry David skewering his focus on his state's election law in the final season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
HBO's long-running comedy is coming to a close with its 12th season following 24 sporadic years on television. The overarching plot of the final season has been tied to the Peach State's 2021 election reform law, specifically the highly-debated provision over providing food and water to voters waiting in line.
In the season premiere, David's character is incidentally in Atlanta during an election where he encounters his friend's Aunt Rae in the squelching heat while waiting hours in line to vote. After rushing to his car to get her a bottle of water, David is immediately arrested. The rest of the season shows David prepping for the looming trial and being celebrated by famous leftists in media and Hollywood.
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Raffensberger's letter to David, first obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution through a public records request, takes aim at the harsh, and what he would argue, inaccurate depiction of Georgia's election law.
"As the chief elections officer for the State of Georgia, we’d like congratulate you on becoming the first, and to our knowledge, only person arrested for distributing water bottles to voters within 150 feet of a polling station. We apologize if you didn’t receive celebrity treatment at the local jail. I’m afraid they’ve gotten used to bigger stars. It’s the TMZ of mugshots," Raffensberger wrote in the letter released Tuesday, referring to former President Trump's mugshot from Fulton County, which David's character emulated.
"Given that Democrats have described the limited ban on food and water in voting lines as a threat to public health, we do hope that Leon’s aunt avoided a tragic death, even though that would allow you to keep those sporty glasses," Raffensberger continued, alluding to a plot line in the first episode.
"Moving forward, we would encourage her to avoid long lines by employing the well known ‘chat and cut,’ whereby one engages an acquaintance in fake conversation in order to join that person in line," he joked, another reference to the show.
Georgia's secretary of state went on to address David's "obvious concern" about voting access in his state and touted how waiting times in the last two major elections "were under two minutes, even as we experienced record turnout."
"Whether wanted or unwanted, I know you’ve received a lot of attention related to your actions in a Georgia election. Believe me, I understand. And while my powers as secretary of state to perform miracles are often overstated, I’m afraid I lack the authority to grant a pardon — even if you call me to ask for one," Raffensberger added.
Throughout the final season of "Curb," David is treated like a liberal folk hero, receiving fanfare from protesters standing outside the jailhouse in support of him as well as praise from the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," music superstar Bruce Springsteen and even former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a vocal critic of Georgia's election law.
"Larry David is about action, not words. He saw an injustice, and he did what he could to right it. And that's what we need today in America," Abrams says on David's television in one episode.
The text of Georgia's law states, "No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector."
Georgia state officials say that the provision was meant to crack down on third-party political activists trying to influence voters at polling places.
"While Curb is usually hilarious, this one distorted the facts beyond anything funny," Raffensberger previously told Fox News Digital. "It’s tough to make a joke out of Georgia’s two-minute wait times - or our number one ranking for election security."
