On Thursday 25 March, Georgia lawmakers approved legislation to impose new restrictions on voting access within the state.
The bill comes after black voters played a big role in electing Democrats in Georgia for the first time since 1992, placing Georgia as the epicentre of national attention and the fight for democracy.
The new measure transfers the power to run elections in Georgia from the Secretary of State and local councils to the state board. This board is dominated by conservative Republicans.
Voters are now required to submit ID (Identification) information with both an absentee ballot request and the ballot itself. It also limits the use of absentee ballot drop-off, allows for unlimited challenges to voter’s qualifications, and cuts the run-off election period from nine to four weeks. In addition, it also makes it a misdemeanour crime to give food or drink to voters waiting in line.
For a number of reasons the bill will likely disproportionately affect black people in the United States. Firstly, a greater share of black voters voted by absentee ballot in the 2020 presidential election, yet black voters are less likely to have the identification which the bill now requires. Black voters are also more likely to move than white voters and, as a result, more likely to change precincts, but the new bill now tosses out these votes before 5pm. The bill also makes it easier for conservative groups to target and purge large numbers of black voters, or those that they think will vote Democratic, as now any Georgian can challenge the eligibility of an unlimited number of voters.
“Jim Crow 2.0”
Opponents of the new measure have denounced it as one of the country’s most damaging attempts to suppress voters.
Democratic State Senator Gloria Butler said: “we are witnessing a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights unlike anything we’ve seen since the Jim Crow era.”
Outside the State Capitol building, protestors were heard chanting “Jim Crow 2.0”. US President Joe Biden also made the same comparison, saying that the bill made “Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle”.
The bill was signed under a painting of a slave plantation, which didn’t do much to dissuade people from the openly racial optics of the bill. The painting of the Callaway plantation, which enslaved more than 100 black people, served as a stark reminder of Georgia’s racist past and further emphasised the struggle between the old South and that of today.
I was proud to sign S.B. 202 to ensure elections in Georgia are secure, fair, and accessible. I appreciate the hard work of members of the General Assembly to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. pic.twitter.com/1ztPnfD6rd
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) March 25, 2021
Perhaps even more symbolic, however, was the footage of Park Cannon being escorted out of the State Capitol building. The Georgia State Representative was dragged away and arrested for knocking on the door where the bill was being signed and now faces two felony charges.
“Why are you arresting her?” This Facebook Live video from @TWareStevens shows the moment authorities detained state Rep. Park Cannon as @GovKemp was behind those doors signing elections restrictions into law. #gapol pic.twitter.com/U1xMJ6tZrY
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 25, 2021
A number of voices have already considered a boycott of State businesses who have not spoken out against the bill. Leaders of The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church’s 6th Episcopal District called for a boycott of Coca-Cola products.
Just to be clear. Call Delta, Coca-Cola, UPS, Home Depot. Say you expect them to make a strong stand for freedom and oppose the Georgia voter suppression law as well as the felony charges against State Representative Cannon, and you will be boycotting their product until they do.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) March 26, 2021
Bishop Reginald Jackson said: “This past summer, Coke and other corporations said they needed to speak out against racism. But they’ve been mighty quiet about this.”
The voting rights platform ‘Democracy Stocked’ issued a statement on Friday pressuring companies such as Home Depot, Delta Air Lines and United Parcel Service (UPS) to speak out against the bill, but failed to fully condemn the bill.
However, figures such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King, have said that boycotting business is not the way forward. The CEO of The King Centre said that action like this could hurt voters which it seeks to help. Boycotting companies would actually “hurt middle class workers and people grappling with poverty”. It would also have the potential to increase “the harm of both racism and classism.”
Georgia joins a growing list of states where efforts are continuing to introduce voting restrictions. Across the country more than 250 bills have been filed by Republicans to impose new voting limits. Iowa has already passed a measure to limit absentee balloting and voting hours. Texas is already taking steps to introduce the same measures in cities like Houston which have favoured Democrats.
Jennifer Jenkins
Featured image courtesy of Element 5 Digital via Unsplash. Image license is available here. This image has in no way been altered.
