Georgia’s ACLU is preparing to fight the latest voter suppression plan in the state which consists of a proposal to eliminate a whopping 75 percent of the polling locations in Randolph County where 61 percent of the residents are black. The county’s election board meets on Thursday to discuss the proposal—which includes eliminating 7 of its 9 polling sites as well as closing a location at a school where almost 100 percent of the voters are black.
The ACLU has no intention of letting this plan pass unchallenged. As a result, they’ve demanded that the elections board keep the polling places open and are pursuing open records to learn more information about the original proposal. Nothing to see here, folks. Just Georgia Republicans doing to their best to disenfranchise as many black voters as possible leading up to a historic election where a black woman, Stacey Abrams (D), could become the state’s next governor. Not at all coincidentally, all of the polling locations proposed for closing were used earlier this year for primaries and the Republican run-off in July. So it’s “curious” why they’d be slated for closure for the general election. But as Sean Young, a lawyer with the ACLU notes, “There is strong evidence that this was done with intent to make it harder for African Americans.”
If successful, this proposal will drastically cut down the number of people in the county that can vote. Nearly a quarter of the county’s residents don’t have a car and there is little public transportation available. According to the ACLU, if the seven polling locations are closed, residents would have to travel 10 miles just to vote.
In case you were wondering, this is all possible thanks to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2013, it eliminated requirements for jurisdictions to receive permission before changing how people can vote. Under the Voting Rights Act, jurisdictions had to prove that such changes were not going to result in discrimination. But now, they can do what they want without oversight. So Republicans will continue to try to stop black folks from voting as long as it’s legal (or illegal) for them to do so. That’s why we must do whatever we can to help Stacey Abrams win in November so she can defeat Georgia Republicans and their vile, racist attempts to take away the rights of people in their state.
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