New York Times: ‘The Future Is Blue, Not Purple’: Is This the Year Georgia Flips?

06.9.2020 / By Astead W. Herndon
New York Times: ‘The Future Is Blue, Not Purple’: Is This the Year Georgia Flips?

The virus “has had a grave impact, a real dent, in how we’re accessing the ballot,” said Aunna Dennis, the Georgia executive director for Common Cause, a nonpartisan grass-roots organization focused on voting rights. She said the simple question of ballot access should take precedence over any horse-race predictions. “The system is broken here in Georgia,” she said.

ATLANTA — There’s a joke about Atlanta’s most popular sports teams and how they often fail to reach their potential. The Atlanta Hawks franchise has gone more than 60 years without an N.B.A. championship. In 2017, during Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons were up, 28-3, in the third quarter against the New England Patriots. You know what happened next.

Georgia Democrats, long a source of hope for the national party, are seeking to avoid a similar reputation. In 2016, prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign infamously crowed about a changing electoral map that made Georgia winnable for Democrats, only to lose the state and the election.

The following year, Democrats watched an expensive special congressional election slip through their fingers. And the year after that, Stacey Abrams, a former State House minority leader, captured national attention and drove record turnout but lost the race for governor to Brian Kemp, a Republican who has stuck close to President Trump since his election. …

Republicans also oversee the state’s elections, and they have repeatedly been accused of voter suppression tactics; they have closed polling locations in Democratic areas and purged thousands from the voter rolls.

In 2018, Mr. Kemp remained secretary of state as he ran for governor, refusing to recuse himself even as he participated in the election he oversaw. Brad Raffensperger, who replaced him in that role, has encouraged residents to vote by mail in Tuesday’s primary, but logistical concerns have left many skeptical the state is ready to hold a full election in amid a pandemic.

The virus “has had a grave impact, a real dent, in how we’re accessing the ballot,” said Aunna Dennis, the Georgia executive director for Common Cause, a nonpartisan grass-roots organization focused on voting rights.

She said the simple question of ballot access should take precedence over any horse-race predictions. “The system is broken here in Georgia,” she said.

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