#standwithga

his morning at the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta, representatives from Black Voters Matter joined a press conference re: GA’s recently passed voter suppression bill, SB 202, which prevents full and free access to the ballot for voters throughout the state, and the corporate accountability campaign movement to combat it. See statement below:

“When Kemp allowed passage of the SB 202 bill last week, he made an intentional decision to suppress Black voting power. When Governor Kemp signed into law SB 202 bill last week, with a picture of a plantation on the wall behind him, he was championing the Jim Crow-era policies of the past. This bill, which severely restricts voting access statewide, comes after Black voters delivered unprecedented turnout in last year’s election with record-breaking participation in absentee and early voting. Even after making public commitments to promote racial equity just last year, Georgia lawmakers, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and major players from Georgia’s business community have allowed the measure to pass by turning a blind eye toward blatant efforts to suppress Black votes. But the fight against this bill and the many others similar to it across our state and the nation is not over.

“Today, Black Voters Matter joined partners across the state and country to 1) stand in solidarity with Rep. Park Cannon who returns to work today, 2) continue holding corporations accountable for their failure to stand up for Black voters and 3) to remind voters that our lawsuit against GA officials is moving forward.

“SB 202 is not expanding access to voting, and is indicative of how people and businesses have been insensitive to racial equity issues throughout history. Positioning this policy as beneficial to voters when it was meant to marginalize Black votes is racist spin disguised as harmless rhetoric.

“BVM will continue to demand fair and equitable access to the ballot and invite companies and individuals throughout the country to join us in our fight. We appreciate the NBA players including Lebron James and More Than a Vote, who spoke out forcefully against voter suppression bills in Georgia, as well as recent comments from the Major League Baseball Players Association regarding the pending location of its 2021 All-Star Game. Georgia is only the first state in more than 40 across the nation that will face voter suppression bills. This impacts all of us.”

The fight against voter suppression is NOT over. Our folks were on the ground in Augusta, Georgia at The Masters Tournament to urge them to divest from voter suppression and invest in voter education!

Black Voters Matter co-founders LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright issued this statement following the Georgia state legislature’s vote to advance Senate Bill 202, which would bolster voter identification laws, shorten the deadline to request absentee ballots, and impose other voting restrictions:

“Today’s vote from the Georgia House of Representatives marks another disgraceful attempt by the state legislature to kill Black voting power. This bill, which would severely restrict voting access statewide, comes after Black voters delivered unprecedented turnout in last year’s election with record-breaking participation in absentee and early voting. But even after making public commitments to promote racial equity just last year, Georgia lawmakers, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and major players from Georgia’s business community have allowed the measure to pass by turning a blind eye toward blatant efforts to suppress Black votes. We are continuing to hold them accountable for their failure to stand up for Black voters.

“We cannot stress the dangers of this legislation enough. In addition to the outright attacks on absentee and early voting and restrictive voter identification requirements, one of its most dangerous provisions would allow the state to supersede county election boards, which certify election results. That provision threatens to undermine a crucial tenet of our democracy at a time when our election certification process is already under attack. We see right through what Georgia lawmakers are doing here: they’re throwing a wrench into Georgia’s election system, scapegoating county election boards, and giving the state broad authority to intervene. The legislature, in turn, is setting local election officials up for failure.