When Georgia’s General Assembly passed its voter integrity law in 2021, it sought to remedy some of the issues that plagued elections in the state, especially in 2020. Long lines made it voting frustrating, and it also gave campaign volunteers and advocacy groups opportunities to pass out snacks and bottled water with labels on them pushing certain candidates.
Ballot harvesting was a major issue, while Democrats tried to block the state’s efforts to purge people who had died or moved out of state from voter rolls. I personally saw the Democrat sheriff in my home county circulating through a line of early voters, shaking hands and speaking to those in line in 2020.
The state legislature passed SB 202, or the Election Integrity Act, to remedy problems like these. Gov. Brian Kemp’s oft-repeated line about the bill was that it would make it “easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
“The law includes popular election integrity safeguards like, for example, signature matching, voter ID, restrictions on drop boxes, a ban on the mass mailing of absentee ballot request forms to those who did not ask for them, and mandatory citizenship checks,” reports Natalia Mittlestadt at Just the News.
The ink wasn’t dry on Kemp’s signature on the bill before the Democrats began complaining, and unsurprisingly, Stacey Abrams led the way. Abrams wrote an op-ed in USA Today saying:
The impassioned response to the racist, classist bill that is now the law of Georgia is to boycott in order to achieve change. Events hosted by major league baseball, world class soccer, college sports and dozens of Hollywood films hang in the balance. At the same time, activists urge Georgians to swear off of hometown products to express our outrage. Until we hear clear, unequivocal statements that show Georgia-based companies get what’s at stake, I can’t argue with an individual’s choice to opt for their competition.
USA Today quietly removed Abrams’ call for a boycott of Georgia from the op-ed, but that didn’t stop the drumbeat from leftist politicians and corporations speaking out against Georgia, including lying about the voter integrity law. Major League Baseball dutifully pulled the All-Star Game, with commissioner Rob Manfred calling the move “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport” because “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”
Flashback for our VIPs: CNN Accuses the Braves of Alienating Atlanta’s Black Community With Half-Truths
Of course, Atlanta got the last laugh when the Atlanta Braves made the World Series and hosted not just one but three games.
While Stacey Abrams and the MLB stole the All-Star Game from hardworking Georgians, the Braves earned their trip to the World Series this season and are bringing it home to Georgia.
Chop On, and Go @Braves!
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) October 24, 2021
Manfred backpedaled and complimented the Braves’ outreach to the Native American community, while two hometown Atlanta companies bit the hand that feeds them in the aftermath of the law’s passage.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that the law “is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values,” asserting that it would “make it harder for many underrepresented voters” to “exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives.” Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey referred to the law as “unacceptable” and “a step backwards.”
We already saw the effects of the new law in Atlanta’s November 2021 mayoral election; no one’s votes were suppressed by the law. And in September, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Jones, an Obama appointee, ruled that the law wasn’t unconstitutional, nor does it violate the Voting Rights Act.
On top of that court triumph, the midterm elections in Georgia went off with minimal problems and impressive turnout.
“Georgia set an all-time midterm early voting turnout record this year, after the law’s enactment. The total turnout of early voters — both in-person and absentee — was 2,504,956,” reports Mittelstadt. “There were 2,288,889 total early in-person voters this year, compared to 1,890,364 early in-person voters in the 2018 midterm elections.”
And the long lines look to be a thing of the past.
“Our average wait time in lines was about two minutes in the afternoon,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Joe Scarborough on MSNBC. “Tracking at three minutes. Longest on the leader board 14 minutes. Check-in time, when you got to the front line, 47 seconds. It was just a very smooth process.”
“We worked hard with the counties to keep those lines short,” Raffensperger added. “Make sure everyone had the opportunity to vote. In Georgia, you can vote no-excuse absentee voting, 17 days of early voting and then Election Day. So we gave voters a choice, and they responded. We had a very calm, smooth, well-attended, you know, good turnout election.”
So the question remains: when does Georgia get its apologies from MLB, Delta, and Coca-Cola?
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