Stacey Abrams has slammed Republican efforts to restrict voting rights in Georgia as “racist” and “a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie.
Last week, Georgia’s state Senate passed an election bill that would repeal no-excuse absentee voting, among other changes.
Under SB 241, voters would need to be 65 years old or older, absent from their precinct, observing a religious holiday, be required to provide constant care for someone with a physical disability, or required to work “for the protection of the health, life, or safety of the public during the entire time the polls are open,” or be an overseas or military voter to qualify for an absentee ballot.”
Abrams says the creators of the bill have an alternative agenda.
“Well, first of all, I do absolutely agree that it’s racist. It is a redux of Jim Crow in a suit and tie. We know that the only thing that precipitated these changes, it’s not that there was the question of security,” Abrams told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“In fact, the secretary of state and the governor went to great pains to assure America that Georgia’s elections were secure. And so the only connection that we can find is that more people of color voted, and it changed the outcome of elections in a direction that Republicans do not like.
“And so, instead of celebrating better access and more participation, their response is to try to eliminate access to voting for primarily communities of color. And there’s a direct correlation between the usage of drop boxes, the usage of in-person early voting, especially on Sundays, and the use of vote by mail and a direct increase in the number of people of color voting.”
To put it plainly, the GOP is still salty over their loss in the 2020 election.
“We are aware of a significant number of election irregularities,” said attorney Brad Carver, who chaired a party task force that advocated election law changes. “And, yes, if those election irregularities had been remedied, then there would have been a different outcome in the election on Nov. 3.”
If signed into law, the bill would disproportionately target Black voters who tend to vote for Democrats.
