FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephen Peters, [email protected]
WASHINGTON — Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed S.B. 202 into law — an hour after the legislature passed the anti-voting rights measure:
“Instead of celebrating the record voter turnout during the 2020 election amid a pandemic, Georgia lawmakers have gone to extreme efforts to deny access to the ballot. Unfortunately, this bill is not an anomaly — across the country, over 250 state bills have been introduced to disenfranchise voters, many measures aimed squarely at communities of color. For the sake of our democracy, this has to stop. Voters, and not officials, must decide our elections. Congress must pass H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and put an end to these brazen attempts to silence our voices. Congress must ensure the freedom to vote for all Americans, regardless of who we are, where we live, or how we vote.”
S.B. 202 takes such steps as:
- Restricting early voting during runoff elections and requiring additional identification for absentee voters.
- Banning mobile voting units for early voting, unless a specified emergency is declared.
- Stripping power away from the very local officials tasked with administering elections, as well as removing Georgia’s elected secretary of state from leading the State Election Board.
- Drastically limiting and removing secure ballot return drop boxes.
- Requiring additional identification for absentee voting.
- Criminalizing providing food or drinks to a voter in line.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.