Tag: Georgia voter suppression law

Georgia GOP lawmakers’ flaws could be exposed in DOJ lawsuit

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The U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Georgia could place the state’s Republican lawmakers under a microscope to unveil their biased intent where voting restrictions are concerned. 

A new piece published by The Daily Beast outlines the details of the complaint, the DOJ’s options, and the legal path it could take. On Friday, June 25, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia.

The lawsuit, which was also filed before Trump-appointed Judge J.P. Boulee, alleges that some provisions of the Georgia law SB-202 “violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” Continue reading.

Justice Dept. sues state of Georgia over new voting restrictions

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Justice Department officials announced a federal lawsuit Friday against Georgia over new statewide voting restrictions that federal authorities allege purposefully discriminate against Black Americans, the first major action by the Biden administration to confront efforts from Republican-led jurisdictions to limit election turnout.

The legal challenge takes aim at Georgia’s Election Integrity Act, which was passed in March by the Republican-led state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R). The law imposes new limits on the use of absentee ballots, makes it a crime for outside groups to provide food and water to voters waiting at polling stations, and hands greater control over election administration to the state legislature.

The action came as GOP-led state governments across the country have been seeking to impose broad new voting restrictions in the wake of President Biden’s victory over Donald Trump last November. Trump has spent months waging a baseless effort to discredit the result, making false and unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud. Continue reading.

Republican battle with MLB intensifies

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Republicans are spoiling for a high-profile fight with MLB as they ramp up pressure on the league’s commissioner to reverse a decision to pull the All-Star Game from Atlanta over Georgia’s new voting law.

GOP lawmakers are publicly scrutinizing Commissioner Rob Manfred’s membership at Georgia’s exclusive Augusta National Golf Club and threatening to take away MLB’s long-held antitrust exemption.

The fight is quickly spreading to other states as well, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) saying he won’t throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opener after MLB adopted “what has turned out to be a false narrative about Georgia’s election law reforms.” Continue reading.

BUSTED: Trump called for a boycott against Coca-Cola — but photos show he’s still drinking it

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Donald Trump’s Diet Coke addiction is well documented in history. His need to drink so many sodas was so intense that he apparently forced the White House to install a button on his desk he could hit when he wanted the beverage.

Trump announced his support for the state of Georgia and its voter suppression bill. He also announced his support to boycott Coca-Cola, Delta and Major League Baseball for their opposition to the bill. 

In a release, Trump said “radical left Democrats” have threatened to boycott products, and the left is “going big time with WOKE CANCEL CULTURE.” So, he ordered the three major companies be “canceled.” Continue reading.

Corporations gave over $50M to voting restriction backers

WASHINGTON — When executives from Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines spoke out against Georgia’s new voting law as unduly restrictive last week, it seemed to signal a new activism springing from corporate America. 

But if leaders of the nation’s most prominent companies are going to reject lawmakers who support restrictive voting measures, they will have to abruptly reverse course.

State legislators across the country who have pushed for new voting restrictions, and also seized on former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, have reaped more than $50 million in corporate donations in recent years, according to a new report by Public Citizen, a Washington-based government watchdog group. Continue reading.

MLB pulls All-Star Game out of Georgia over voting reform law

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Major League Baseball (MLB) announced Friday that it is pulling its All-Star Game for the 2021 season out of Georgia in protest of the state’s new voting restrictions signed into law last month. 

Rob Manfred, the MLB commissioner, said in a statement the decision was made after conversations with teams and players and that moving the July 13 game out of the Peach State is “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.” The MLB draft will also be moved out of Georgia. 

“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box,” Manfred said. Continue reading.

Backlash grows against Georgia voting rights law

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Georgia lawmakers are on defense as prominent companies and business executives have come out in opposition to legislation signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) that has been criticized as an effort to stifle minority voters.

Georgia-based Coca-Cola and Delta on Wednesday joined a growing number of corporations this week criticizing the omnibus bill, S.B. 202.

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey called the new measures “unacceptable” and “a step backwards,” while Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the bill “includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives.” Continue reading.

Georgia Faces Mounting Corporate, Political Pressure to Undo Voting Law

Activists are calling for boycotts of companies headquartered in Georgia to pressure them to do more to reverse the new restrictions.

POLITICS DIDN’T STOP Georgia from enacting a sweeping election law making it harder for people to vote. But voting right advocates are banking on corporate America to undo the dramatic new restrictions, including a provision that makes it illegal to pass out snacks and water to people waiting hours in line to cast ballots.

After Democrats scored pivotal victories in the long-red state – taking Georgia in the presidential race and picking up two critical seats in the U.S. Senate – the GOP-run state legislature responded quickly, passing a package that has the effect of putting up barriers for Black communities to vote. Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican, signed the measure the same day.

Now, activists are calling for boycotts of companies headquartered in Georgia to pressure them to do more to reverse the restrictions. President Joe Biden, who last week called the law “un-American” and a thinly disguised effort to suppress the Black vote, took a step further Wednesday night, telling ESPN he would “strongly support” moving Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta if things don’t change. Continue reading.

As Delta And Coke Officials Protest, Kemp Lies About New Election Law

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Following days of backlash, Republican officials are lying about what Georgia’s recently passed voter suppression law will actually do, in an apparent effort to make it seem less harsh and discriminatory.

The attempt to sugarcoat the law comes as major companies, responsible for billions of dollars of Georgia’s economy, are coming out against it.

Delta Air Lines, the No. 1 private employer of Georgians, came out with a statement on Wednesday calling the Georgia law “unacceptable” and built on a “lie” that there was voter fraud in the 2020 election. Continue reading.

Delta CEO calls new Georgia voting restrictions “unacceptable”

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Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian condemned Georgia’s new election law as “unacceptable” in a memo circulated to staff on Wednesday, claiming that the “entire rationale for this bill was based on a lie” about widespread voter fraud in 2020.

Why it matters: The Atlanta-based airline is one of the largest employers in Georgia and was facing calls for a boycott over its stance on the Republican-crafted law, per the Washington Post. 

  • Bastian sent out a memo last Friday in which he said he understood concerns about the law, but praised several elements and suggested it had “improved considerably during the legislative process.” Continue reading.