ATLANTA – All Voting is Local Georgia state director Aklima Khondoker issued the following public comment to the DeKalb County Board of Elections today in response to the county’s long early voting lines, which disproportionately harm Black and Brown voters:
“Black and Brown voters in central DeKalb are forced to sacrifice more of their personal time to vote, which is shameful since our laws should apply equally,” Khondoker says in her comment. “This is due in large part to increased travel times between locations and a lack of early vote sites to cover more voters. Voters of color in these areas have reported that they have had to sacrifice appointments, time with family, work obligations, and work pay–time that they will never recover–in order to vote. That is unacceptable.”
In her comment, Khondoker explains how Georgia’s early vote period has been marred by widespread reports of faulty machines and long lines. In DeKalb County, commissioners noted the disproportionate wait times in Black and Brown communities and sought clarity into why the disparity exists.
“The DeKalb Board must add at least three early voting sites, Toco Hills and Salem-Panola libraries and Stephenson Middle School, to alleviate the wait time burden on voters,” Khondoker says in her testimony. “These sites are already available on Election Day, in 13 days. We ask that you accelerate that availability to include early voting from now until October 30.”
Her full comment can be found here.