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Stacey Abrams on Thursday defended her claim that Georgia’s electoral reform bill was “Jim Crow 2.0,” despite voters going to the polls in record numbers in her state.
Abrams, who is running for governor of the state, has been a fierce critic of SB 202 – the 2021 Election Integrity Act – which was signed into law by her Republican rival, Governor Brian Kemp, in March 2021.
Yet, contrary to its dire warnings, Georgia has seen the highest levels of early voting in history.
Abrams told MSNBC on Thursday night that her warnings remained valid — and voters showed up despite the new law.
“Let’s be clear, they’re in despite the SB 202 barriers,” she said.
“Despite the racially charged voter challenges approved by SB202.
“Despite the barriers to absentee ballots, which black voters used to the full in 2018 and ’21. Until time was shortened and the process became more complicated.’
Stacey Abrams, who hopes to be elected governor of Georgia, has repeatedly called last year’s electoral reform bill “Jim Crow 2.0.” However, record numbers of people vote in her state. Abrams said Thursday they voted despite the ‘barriers’
Georgians benefit in record numbers from early votes this year
Abrams said black voters are crossing “barriers” to vote “because they know how important this election is.”
She admitted the turnout was remarkable, even among those she believed would be hardest hit by the electoral reform.
On October 26, Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State, confirmed that more than a million people had already voted in his state.
Georgia has had a record turnout since the first day of the election this year — nearly twice as many as on the first day of early voting in 2018.
“Georgian voters are giving their district election directors a huge boon by taking advantage of the unprecedented variety of early voting options available to all Georgians,” Raffensperger said. “Reducing the burden on the provinces is crucial for safe, secure and accessible elections.”
Abrams agreed it was remarkable.
“The numbers are extraordinary,” she said. “We’ve seen black men participate in 91.8 percent of their turnout in the 2020 general election.
“We’ve seen 90 percent black women participate. These are the two highest voter concentrations.’
Early voters line up to cast their votes on October 29 in DeKalb County
Citizens cast their votes this week for November’s midterm elections at early polls in Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia
Abrams has long argued that the law would strip voters of their rights by, among other things, making it optional for polling stations to open on Sundays, and stipulating that drop boxes will only be accessible during early voting days and hours rather than 24/7.
“Now more than ever, we need federal action to protect voting rights as we continue to fight against these blatantly unconstitutional efforts that are nothing short of Jim Crow 2.0,” she tweeted on March 25, 2021.
Her words were echoed by Joe Biden, who: in January a rally in Atlanta told: ‘Their endgame? To turn voters’ will into suggestion—something states can respect or ignore.”
He added: “Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion.
‘It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making voting more difficult.
‘It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.
‘It’s no exaggeration; This is a fact.’
Last week, the White House defended Biden’s comments — arguing that high voter turnout and voter suppression can happen simultaneously.
“High turnout and voter suppression can happen simultaneously,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Georgia’s record early voter turnout, a state president Joe Biden claimed he had a ‘Jim Crow’-style voting bill: ‘High turnout and voter suppression can happen at the same time ,’ she said
Youth pass a voting information board on the Emory University campus in Atlanta, Georgia
By 2022, at least seven states will pass ten laws that will make voting more difficult. Brennan Center for Justice.
“The president has been very clear that based on The Big Lie, there has been a host of anti-voter policies for some states that are testing Americans’ fundamental right to vote,” Jean-Pierre said.
“This goes against our most basic values.
“Of course, high voter turnout and voter suppression can happen at the same time,” she added.
“One doesn’t have to come naturally. It can happen at the same time.’
She declined to go into more specific details, citing the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity at work.
Republicans have seized the Georgia numbers as justification for their 2021 state election law rewrite.
Turnout is record-breaking, said Tate Mitchell, a spokesman for the Kemp campaign, “as Stacey Abrams continues to spread the myth of voter suppression.”
Abrams resists that mockery as she too celebrates the high early turnout.
“More people in the water doesn’t mean fewer sharks,” Abrams said last week.