The Washington Post reports that voter participation surged for Tuesday’s primary election, surpassing even the levels seen in 2020, despite the efforts of the Georgia GOP legislature’s to make it harder to cast a ballot:
“By the end of Friday, the final day of early in-person voting, nearly 800,000 Georgians had cast ballots — more than three times the number in 2018, and higher even than in 2020, a presidential year.”
Republicans were quick to point out that voting participation had increased despite the changes they made to voting laws after Georgians elected President Biden and two democratic Senators in 2020…
“Abrams and President Biden lied to the people of Georgia and the country for political gain,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said. “From day one, I said that Georgia’s election law balanced security and access, and the facts have proved me right.”
…neglecting to mention that the Herculean efforts of Stacey Abrams and The Democratic Party to register voters, as well as the protests of corporations such as Patagonia, Delta Airlines, and Major League Baseball, which prompted the GOP to take some of the more onerous provisions of the law, likely had much more to do with with the increase.
But, in the end it was the determination of Georgia voters to have their ballots counted which keyed Tuesday’s happy result.
“They made it hard,” said Preston Wallace, a retiree from Chamblee who voted by mail in 2020 but chose to do so in person this year. “I’m not certain about the drop-offs, or if the mail is going to get picked up on time. I just don’t trust it. I didn’t want to take any chances.”
Voting will be harder in November, with longer lines and quite likely more GOP chicanery between now and Election Day now that they have seen that their efforts at suppression have been somewhat thwarted by voter registration and eager new voters, but the outlook is hopeful:
“Patsy Reid — 70 years old, Black and retired — said she was surprised she didn’t encounter problems when she voted early this month. Reid cast her ballot for Abrams in the Democratic primary but feared that her vote could be discounted given reports of voter suppression against people of color in Georgia.
“I had heard that they were going to try to deter us in any way possible because of the fact that we didn’t go Republican on the last election, when Trump didn’t win,” Reid said. “To go in there and vote as easily as I did and to be treated with the respect that I knew I deserved as an American citizen — I was really thrown back.”
Well, I hope that Ms Reid doesn’t take the ease with which she voted in the primary as some sign that things will be as smooth for November. Remember: The GOP leadership doesn’t really give a rat’s ass about how Black folks vote in a Democratic primary. No. They’re far more concerned about how Black folks vote in the general election. It’s a bit of a given that the Black folks are going to vote Democratic so why be concerned if they “waste” their vote in a stupid primary. It’s a far different matter when that Black vote has even the slightest potential chance of affecting the outcome of a Republican winning a statewide contest.
Ms Reid really needs to remain absolutely diligent with her vote for the November election. I imagine she’ll find less “respect” or face her vote being “discounted” some 5 months from now. She might really want to plan to go vote in person or make sure she dots all her Is and crosses all her Ts if she plans to vote early or cast an absentee ballot. I definitely wouldn’t want her to be lulled into a sense of complacency just because things were so “easy” with her primary experience. This is NOT the “important” vote. This is basically the “dress rehearsal” for the real “opening night.” And any actor will tell you that the best dress rehearsal does not necessarily lead to a great, or even good, opening show.
I’m sure there will be more fuckery as the real vote approaches. Still, the increase over the 2020 Presidential election is a hopeful sign.
The voter restrictions are greater in Mississippi than anywhere else in the shit-hole slaver states, yet no attention is placed on us as far as the Jim Crow laws we have here. We only have four congressmen and all of the blacks are gerrymandered into one district which gives us the chairman of the 1/6 committee. We have the largest percentage of blacks in the country, yet we have only one Democrat in DC. Mississippi, in spite of the shit-assess claim in Alabama which were part of the Mississippi territory as well as the Florida panhandle is the heart of Dixie. Take back Mississippi and the rest will crumble like sand castles.
You can’t even get a state ID in my county.
Every news outlet trying to say 22 is a done deal. Hell, haven’t even finished primaries. Come on. And the supreme court’s shot on this by doing their song and dance before the elections. Are they that stupid.
Yes Chris if the Dems needed an issue they could fight an election on the SCOTUS was happy to oblige. Before they decided that timing means nothing to God or the GOP they wade in 6 months before the mid terms with the question of abortion rights. Rep voters don’t give a flying fig that the GOP didn’t run on a platform last election and had no plans to develop a platform for the up coming elections either. But mention Roe V Wade and the freedom lovin gun totin bible pounders go berserk. So now the GOP has a platform they HAVE to run on, like it or not! Hope disappointment isn’t on the menu this year like 2020 was. Oh well I can live with it, so there’s always that, chuckle!!!!!