Georgia Went Blue, So No Voting for You
By: Binaka Norris
As the world reels from 2020, it is abundantly clear that while the Civil Rights movement paved the way for equality, it certainly did not secure it. The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the unjust systems still in place, and the 2020 presidential election was by far, one of the tensest points in American politics. Voting became a hot topic, and political engagement was at a high. The terms voter fraud and voter suppression took over Twitter, as many saw the disenfranchisement of BIPOC voters across the country, but especially in traditionally red states. This election brought a lot of new progressive and often underrepresented voices into the House, Senate, and local government, but one of the biggest surprises was that Georgia, a very conservative state, turned blue for the first time since 1992. Democrats applauded Stacey Abrams for her voting rights activism; helping underserved voters, fighting to make voting free, and increasing overall political participation. Despite these massive achievements, Georgia signed a new, 98-page voting law that many have called “unconstitutional”, “unfair”, and “Jim Crow adjacent.” As progressive America looks to move forward, this new law sends Georgia citizens ten steps back.
Entitled the “Election Integrity Act”, this Republican-led initiative has already been legally challenged by three voting rights activist groups, with claims that it disproportionately hurts Black and brown voters. There are 16 main takeaways from the law:
Voters have less time to request absentee ballots
Stricter ID requirements for absentee ballots
Election officials can no longer mail out absentee ballots to all voters
Mobile voting centers are banned
Drop boxes are still available but are located inside polling places
Early voting has expanded
Offering food and water to voters waiting in line to vote could result in a misdemeanor
If someone shows up at the wrong polling place before 5 p.m., they must travel to the correct polling place rather than casting a provisional ballot
Voting precinct hours are harder to extend
Numerous changes to vote counting, which will likely mean a longer wait for election results
Election officials cannot accept third-party funding
A state attorney general will be managing an election hotline
The secretary of state is no longer on the State Election Board
Runoff elections will have a faster turnaround
The state legislature (which is currently Republican) has more power over the State Election Board
The State Election Board can suspend county election officials
While these new restrictions may seem racially unbiased, the populations that this law will negatively affect are Black and brown. Black voters are less likely to have the required identification needed to cast their absentee ballot, and more Black Georgians voted using absentee ballots. Longer voting lines are often found in more non-white areas of Georgia, with the average wait time being 51 minutes, which is drastically longer than the six-minute wait time in whiter areas. Not being able to offer food and water to these voters waiting for 51 minutes is simply cruel, and may deter people from voting. Provisional voting is more common among Black voters, and because they typically move more than white voters, they are more likely to go to the wrong polling place. The ban on mobile units hurts underserved minority communities where polling places are fewer and harder to reach. The indoor placement of drop boxes (which will not be accessible once polling places close) makes it harder for people who work multiple jobs/evening jobs (typically minorities) to cast their votes. The overwhelming amount of voting restrictions has many people comparing it to the voting limitations during the Jim Crow era. However, others defend the new laws with the argument that they do not limit the voting rights of any group, and that these new measures are the only way to secure the integrity of elections. However, many people on both sides of the aisle have agreed that this new law is textbook voter suppression.
On a broader scope, these new voting restrictions are not necessarily Jim Crow reincarnated but are problematic for a different reason. Calling them “Jim Crow 2.0” lessens the incredible amounts of pain inflicted on minorities at the time, as Jim Crow was not just regulations, but a cultural mindset. Equating this law, which is something that can be challenged, to a century of racial terror, legally encouraged discrimination, and unjust murder does not add up. Personally, these laws are more troubling because they reinforce the darker, more sinister underbelly of American culture: exploitation. America owes its success to the brutalized bodies of Black, brown, and Indigenous people. America is not home of the brave, it is home to those who are comfortable profiting off of other people’s suffering. When an inherently inequitable system produces something that is also inequitable, the American people should not be shocked. The fact that Georgia voted blue last November, and in March 2021, Georgia leaders (most of whom are Republican) seek to restrict voting options, which disproportionately affect Black voters, who typically vote Democrat is almost laughable. With the silencing of minority voices, America can continue ignoring the fact that we owe this nation to those minorities. When you have to enforce blatantly racial restrictions to further your personal agenda, the message is obvious; your success is not earned, it’s bought with other people’s lives.