Voting Rights

Today, in a matter of just hours, both the House and Senate approved a substitute version of SB 202, an anti-voter ‘omnibus’ that allows the highly-partisan state Legislature to appoint a quorum of the State Election Board, and allows state takeover of county elections offices. Governor Brian Kemp is expected to sign the bill at 6:30pm today.

There’s nothing more fundamental to our government than our ability to cast our ballots and have our voices heard. Georgians’ right to vote should be protected -- not subjected to partisan whims. We urge the Senate to turn down this effort to impose partisan control on our state’s elections.

Common Cause Georgia opposes the bill because it “burdens access to the ballot for valid Georgia voters, disproportionately voters of color and low income voters, and it strips local election authorities of tools they need to effectively administer elections,” according to Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis.

'They want to make it harder for people to vote. They want to make it easier for special interests to buy our government. And they want to put our constitutional rights at risk. This is a case study in how to take government away from the people.'

Georgia Republicans didn’t like the results of the 2020 election so they decided they would try to dictate who they will let vote and who they won’t let vote. Republican legislators have deliberately targeted Black and brown Georgians with a disgraceful string of bills that harken back to the dark days of Jim Crow in Georgia. If anyone has any doubts whatsoever about the racial targeting of this proposed legislation they need look no further than its ban on weekend early voting which will end Souls to the Polls, the longstanding tradition of Black congregations in Georgia going to vote after Sunday services.

The Georgia Legislature’s practice of leaving the public out of “the people’s business” reached a new low today. At 3pm, the House Special Committee on Election Integrity started a hearing on HB 531, a 48-page “omnibus” bill on elections filed by Republican lawmakers – which was filed only two hours ago.