TV sitcoms like “Veep” and “Parks and Recreation” have long poked fun at the absurdities of national and local politics, but they rarely zero in on the fine print of laws passed by state legislatures.
So it came as a surprise that the end of Sunday night’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” season premiere — beware, spoilers ahead — took a pretty, pretty, pretty clear aim at the important election law that Georgia passed in 2021.
The episode highlights a provision of the law that effectively prohibits third-party groups or anyone else who is not an election worker from providing food and water to voters waiting in line within 150 feet of a polling place.
Larry David, who as the show’s unhinged star is better known for breaking social norms than actual laws, travels to Atlanta in the episode. Towards the end, he has to go find the aunt of Leon, his friend and roommate, and return a pair of glasses he was forced to borrow from her.
He spots 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 that he has a few bottles of water in his car and brings her some water.
Immediately the police lights flash.
“Sir, in your navy blazer, put your hands in the air,” an officer tells a confused Mr. David. “You are under arrest for violating the Election Integrity Act.” It adds, “It is illegal for anyone in the state of Georgia to provide food or water to voters in line at the polls.”
“What?” exclaims Mr. David as the officers lead him away, grabbing his arms. “This is barbaric, what kind of law are you serious?”
The episode ends with a mugshot of Mr. David sporting a glow and tan reminiscent of former President Donald J. Trump in the photo taken after his arrest in Georgia in August.
Violating Georgia’s food and water ban is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000, although it is unlikely that someone who violated this provision would be pulled over in a police car. (Campaigning within the zone, otherwise known as “the election,” would be a different story.)
“While I personally am a big fan of Larry David, the show is meant to entertain, not reflect reality here in Georgia,” said Jordan Fuchs, Georgia’s deputy secretary of state. “SB 202 successfully prohibits new and creative tactics by activists from campaigning at a polling place and ensures that Fulton County finally takes action to shorten line times.”
Sunday’s episode wasn’t the first time Mr. David — who last week tried to strangle Elmo on the “Today” show, then rationalized that “someone had to!” — 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 supporting the other candidate would cancel each other out, and thus there was no point in voting. Mr David’s preferred candidate lost by one vote.
In another episode, outgoing Mr. David realizes that wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat in liberal Los Angeles gets him out of many unwanted encounters 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 when it was passed two years ago.
“We always went to Atlanta because of this barbaric law that you can’t give anyone water or food when they’re in line to vote,” said producer Jeff Schaffer. “When we were talking about stories, Larry said, ‘This law is crazy. I think it would be funny if I got arrested for it.”
