Atlanta, EE.UU.
The African-American turnout earned the Democrats impressive victories in Georgia’s presidential and senate elections. Now Republicans are trying to stop this from happening again. Neither in Georgia, nor in other states.
Republican lawmakers in this state, which has been a stronghold of that party, are pushing legislative initiatives that some sectors say are meant to reduce the power of the black vote and the years of work of Stacey Abrams and others to prevent African American participation. promote, nullify. , Hispanics and other minorities.
The proposals are similar to others promoted by Republicans from disputed states. They all aim to create barriers to postal and early voting, two fundamental factors in the victories of Joe Biden, who won all 16 electoral votes in the state, and Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who voted Democrats the control. upstairs.
The early vote
One aspect of the plans, the proposal to abolish early Sunday voting, appears to be specifically aimed at countering traditional campaigns by African American churches to mobilize that community. It makes many say that Republicans are trying to quell the successful attempts to encourage the African American vote in Georgia, where they represent a third of the population and have an ugly record of silencing their voices.
“It’s a new form of oppression (of the vote), the (Ku Klux) Klan dressed in a suit and tie instead of the white hoods,” said Reverend Timothy McDonald III of the First Iconium Baptist Church in Atlanta. “They know the power of the black vote and want to suppress it,” added the religious, describing the Republican initiative as “perverse.”
Republican proposals in Georgia and other states are designed to build confidence in the electoral process. However, they are the main drivers of false allegations that fraud occurred in the last election.
The Brennan Center for Justice, which focuses on public policy, says there were 164 legislative proposals this year seeking to restrict voting rights in 33 states.
Republicans control Georgia state government and have introduced dozens of bills limiting access to the vote. The state representative is the main proponent of a series of proposals that ban early Sunday voting, require photo IDs for absentee voting, limit the time to request early ballots, reduce the number of places mailboxes can be installed to deposit the vote by mail and, among other things, the number of mobile voting centers.
Trust of the public
Fleming says the proposals are intended to “restore public confidence in the electoral system.” He did not respond to emails and phone calls asking for comment.
Nse Ufot, CEO of the Project for a New Georgia that Abrams founded in 2014, argued that the Republican proposals are a response “to our progressive, multiracial and multilingual majority winning elections.”
Biden defeated Donald Trump by approximately 12,000 votes. He is the first Democrat to win a presidential race in Georgia since 1992. And he received nearly twice as many absentee votes as Trump in the state, who were one of the main targets of the former president’s false allegations of fraud. Biden’s win was confirmed on three separate counts, including one by hand.
“These measures do not respond to an objective evaluation, supported by data and evidence, but are only intended to undermine the black vote and that of other communities,” said Democratic State Representative Michael Smith, chair of the Black Legislative Bloc’s Policy Committee. . . from Georgia.
Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, and some of these bills are expected to pass.
Republicans want to limit very popular forms of vote. Almost 70% of voters voted in advance during the coronavirus pandemic. An estimated 108 million people voted early, including 4 million in Georgia.
“They know that if they get people to vote by mail, it will be difficult for Republicans to win elections,” said Debra Bazemore, the Democratic State Representative.