Georgia's Anti-Voting Law Amounts to Jim Crow, Version 2.0
This has to stop.
On Thursday Georgia's Gov. Brian Kemp locked the doors to his office prior to signing a restrictive new bill dramatically limiting access to voting for communities of color. There’s no small irony in that the signing occurred on the anniversary of the culmination of historic Selma to Montgomery March of 1965.
State Representative Park Cannon (D) was arrested after she knocked on Kemp’s door, demanding to be let in to witness this travesty.
In keeping with the best traditions of Southern Injustice, the arrest warrants show Cannon was charged with “knowingly and intentionally” knocking on Kemp’s door during a bill signing and “stomping” on an officer’s foot three times.
It’s all on video, so whatever jury they empanel to hear this case will have to keep their hoods on during the trial.
https://twitter.com/Fly_Sistah/status/1375270751771693058?s=20
The arrest warrant was no less ridiculous than the justifications being used as a basis for Georgia’s anti-voting rights legislation, namely the (non) existence of voting fraud.
Republicans claim the bill is designed to restore trust in elections following the 2020 race, which former President Donald Trump and his GOP surrogates have claimed was rife with voter fraud.
Those allegations have been shown to be untrue, and even the former president’s own officials said the election was the most secure in history. That didn’t stop Trump from attacking Georgia’s election officials while calling on them to “find” votes for him that would overturn the will of the people.
Now, more than 200,000 Geogians will no longer be allowed to vote by mail because they don’t have a state issued driver's license or ID number to make a copy of in order for their ballot to be counted.
Drop boxes for absentee ballots will be severely limited (no doubt to “better” neighborhoods), and the act of giving food or drink to those standing in line to vote will now be a criminal offense.
The state legislature will now be allowed to change the results of an election if they don't agree with the voters' choice.
https://twitter.com/BuddJenn/status/1375449004780085248?s=20
More than a dozen states, including many battleground regions that swung Democratic in 2020, are weighing copy-cat laws. Overall, Republicans have proposed 253 bills to restrict voting in some fashion in 43 states. The Brennan Center has a list of these efforts, by state, right here.
At a press conference on Thursday, President Biden spoke about Republican-led efforts to limit voting rights, calling them “sick and “un-American,” along with saying they amounted to “despicable” attacks against democracy.
“This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,” Biden added.
Voters in Georgia don’t like the bill, as polling stats from PoliticalWire indicate:
77% oppose criminalizing the distribution of food and water to people standing in line waiting to vote.
76% oppose allowing the state legislature to take election authority away from local elections officials, counties, and the Secretary of State.
70% oppose throwing out the vote of any eligible voter who votes at the wrong precinct location, regardless of circumstances like being given incorrect information by an election official.
Within hours after the bill was signed, Marc Elias of Democracy Docket announced a lawsuit on behalf of New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter Fund and Rise, arguing that the bill violates the Fourteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act.
Elias’ track record on shutting down right wing claims purporting election fraud was close to perfect. But, given the assortment of whack-a-doodle judges now in the system, there are no guarantees he will prevail in this case.
At the federal level, passage of Georgia’s bill means it’s time to put some serious effort into supporting the For The People Act (HR1/S1). To do so will require reforming the filibuster at the very least, so reaching out to Senator Diane Feinstein, who has shown some ambivalence on the subject is a good idea.
Finally, the State of Georgia doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If something is connected to Georgia people need to leverage those things to send a message.
You can start by joining with leaders of the AME Sixth Episcopal Church, which includes more than 500 Black churches in Georgia, in refusing to buy Coca-Cola products. While the bottlers and distributors of these products are scattered throughout the country, Coke’s corporate headquarters are in Georgia, and the company’s executives are major sources for campaign contributions.
Other Georgia based companies include: Delta Airlines, Home Depot, Aflac, and UPS. I’ll have more ideas on this in coming weeks.
Georgia has been a hub for Hollywood productions for years, including hosting many Marvel film shoots and Tyler Perry productions, because the state provides large tax credits for film, TV and digital entertainment. James Mangold, the director of “Ford v. Ferrari” and “Logan,” tweeted Thursday night that he would not direct a film in the state in response to the restrictive new voting laws.
https://twitter.com/brianschatz/status/1375241365488070658?s=20
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post emailed to you check out the simple subscription form on the right side of the front page.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com
Lead image credit: Mike Licht / Flickr