Abrams Issues Urgent Call For Volunteers To Stop Vote Suppression

By
Carissa House-Dunphy
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0
2055

Georgia did the unimaginable and flipped blue in 2020, not only electing Joe Biden as the country’s 46th president but ousting two Republican senators to elect the state’s first Jewish senator, Jon Ossoff, and its first black senator, Rev. Raphael Warnock. The ousted president, Donald Trump, immediately accused officials in the state of having cheated him out of his win and, by name, he blamed former gubernatorial candidate and rising Democratic star Stacey Abrams of coordinating the steal.

The response in red states like Georgia has been a rash of voter suppression laws, particularly since turnout was so high in 2020 thanks to voting provisions adopted due to COVID-19. To fight back against those laws, Abrams and her voting rights activist group, Fair Fight Action, led a drive to get voters to call their senators and demand they stop these efforts to suppress the vote.

Now, the group says they’re again in need of volunteers. On its About Us page, Fair Fight Action says:

‘We promote fair elections around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight Action brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications.’

The call comes in the same week that Texas Democrats fled the state to avoid voting on suppression laws in their state, a fight they know they’ll lose with a large majority of the lawmaking body identifying as Republican. The new laws will most disproportionately impact voters of color and voters in urban districts. That’s why Fair Fight Action says they began the fight in Georgia, but they’re taking that fight beyond their state now.

‘Voter suppression, particularly of voters of color and young voters, is a scourge our country faces in states across the nation. Georgia’s 2018 elections shone a bright light on the issue with elections that were rife with mismanagement, irregularities, unbelievably long lines and more, exposing both recent and also decades-long actions and inactions by the state to thwart the right to vote. Georgians and Americans are fighting back, and Fair Fight Action was founded to organize collective efforts to expose, mitigate, and reverse voter suppression. We engage in voter mobilization and education activities and advocate for progressive issues.’

 

 

The fight is about more than laws in individual states. In fact, the push to suppress the vote is a push to undermine the very democratic ideals that our country’s foundation was built on. Abrams and other public figures, along with unlikely allies from corporate America, says they’re pushing back for just that reason.

‘Efforts to discourage and disenfranchise voters—in voter registration, ballot access, or counting of votes—have a catastrophic effect on our democracy and our communities. The facts and faces of voters from the 2018 election in Georgia convey the insidious design and pervasive impact of voter suppression.’

 



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