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After the 2020 election, Raffensperger was credited to the mainstream for its methodical counting and recounting and for standing up to efforts to overturn it. As a nonpartisan election administrator, millions of Georgia voters sent absentee ballots, drop-boxes, and ballots to break turnout records in both the general election and the Senate runoff in early January. And perhaps justifiably, they were proud to take advantage of the long early voting period. Raffensperger helped the authors of her SB202 attempt to review Georgia’s successful election process, largely because it produced the wrong party winner.
Even if Senator Warnock wins, it is not hysteria or election denial to point to legitimate things that contributed to voter suppression that can be traced directly to Ravensperger’s election bill. These include, but are not limited to:
- Voters, including many college students, have not received their absentee ballots in time or at all. In both the general election and the general election run-off ballot, Cobb County was forced by a court to extend the deadline for receiving ballots after more than 1,000 of her voters did not receive their ballots on time. SB202 shortened the time period during which an absentee ballot could be requested and mailed, placing an undue burden on large counties like Cobb and on voters who are predominantly Democratic who are using absentee ballots these days. rice field.
- Long runoff early voting line – SB 202 shortened the runoff period from 9 weeks to 4 weeks. Nine weeks is certainly too long, but four weeks is too short, especially considering the unnecessary extra burden of the SB202. Long lines were exacerbated by SB202, which criminalized handing out water and pizza to people waiting in line for no other reason than the perception and reality that early voting benefits Democrats. For some reason, SB202 mandates that early in-person voters must complete the same forms as absentee voters by mail. If all in-person voters were treated the same, whether early voting or on Election Day, queues could be much shorter.
- Questionable legal interpretations, such as the ruling that the Saturday after Thanksgiving cannot be used for early voting. When this was overturned, it benefited the Democrats because their counties were motivated to open schools that day while most Republican counties remained closed. But I think democracy works better when everyone, including Republicans, can participate. I am against voter suppression, no matter who it affects.
Republicans point to Georgia’s high turnout, especially by voters of color, to refute voter suppression claims. Raffensperger and Republicans are tinkering with election laws again, proposing the third major overhaul since their inauguration in 2019, but perhaps they believe that the more difficult it is to vote, the less people will want to vote. You will notice it rising. .
Sure, turnout was high when record amounts (tens of millions of dollars) were spent to get voters back to polling stations, but what happens in a race where turnout is falling? Established by SB202 Will the difficulties faced stifle their voter turnout? We all know the answer.
We thank Ravensperger for doing the right thing with Trump. But he also owes elections in Georgia, where voter suppression is truly a thing of the past. That means not just acknowledging failures like a two-hour queue and accusing everyone who disagrees with him of being an election naysayer.
Democrat Roy Burns is the former governor of Georgia..
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