A new survey indicated around 52% of eligible black voters in Georgia are confident they will have an equal opportunity to vote in 2022; that’s despite Democrats’ assertions that Republicans are attempting to damage the state’s democracy.
Over 90% of enrolled black voters in Georgia claimed it was simple to vote in 2020.
However, some prominent Democrats subsequently criticized Georgia and other Republican-led states for pursuing supposed voter suppression practices targeting minorities last year.
Voting Measures
Between January 19 and 24, Quinnipiac polled 1,702 registered voters of all races, with a margin of mistake of 2.4 percent.
According to Quinnipiac Associate Director April Radicchio, the study surveyed 323 registered black voters. 18% were extremely sure. 34% were moderately confident that all Georgia citizens would have a fair chance to vote in this year’s elections.
BREAKING: An Atlanta lawyer's group now has Hundreds of lawyers planning to help any Georgian charged for handing out food and water to voters at the polls
— PoliticsVideoChannel (@politvidchannel) April 9, 2021
Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s House Majority Whip, alluded to the voting legislation approved in Georgia last year as the “new Jim Crow.”
The Republican-led legislature enacted the bill, which included a voter ID mandate, the authorization of drop boxes, and a restriction on water delivery within 150 feet of polling stations.
It was passed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who stated the bill’s purpose was to re-establish faith in Georgia’s elections and make cheating more difficult.
After a record turnout among Georgian Black voters in 2020, the Georgia Senate just restricted absentee voting and ππ§πππ automatic voter registration. Make no mistake about it, this is racist #VoterSuppression and a direct attack on our democracy. pic.twitter.com/811YBFlAKS
— π ππ»πΎπ (@AnIllicitWriter) March 19, 2021
The revisions were adopted in reaction to the state’s voting system being temporarily altered in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For instance, the state’s election board allowed drop boxes for missing votes during the 2020 election cycle. Last year’s voting law legalized the use of drop boxes, but decreased the number of permissible boxes from epidemic levels.
Georgia’s voting legislation was enacted in response to complaints by erstwhile President Trump casting doubt on the 2020 election.
Trump asserted “major voter fraud” occurred in Georgia and other states, notwithstanding election officials and courts categorically dismissing such allegations.
Electoral Reforms
Other Republican-controlled state legislatures enacted similar voting reform legislation, due to Trump’s criticisms.
This prompted Democrats to accuse Republicans of depressing voter participation in critical states to win elections.
As a result, Democrats made national electoral reform a focus; albeit the latest efforts to enact such measures failed last week in the Senate, due to a Republican blockade.
For years, Democrats have accused Republicans of voter suppression.
Following her failure in Georgia’s 2018 governor’s race, Democrat nominee Stacey Abrams contended rigged “game rules victimized the state’s voters.”
According to USA Today, she claimed that Kemp wrongly purged voter records, a move that experts believe would not have barred people with appropriate identification from voting.Β
Additionally, the Quinnipiac survey revealed a close race between Kemp and Abrams. Kemp leads Abrams 49 percent to 47 percent among all registered voters polled. The election is scheduled for November.
Kemp is also up against a formidable primary election opponent, most notably former Sen. David Perdue, Trump’s endorsement.
A plurality of eligible voters in Georgia questioned by Quinnipiac expressed extreme confidence, 25%, or moderate confidence, 37%, in the accuracy of Georgia’s vote-counting in 2022.
21 percent of those questioned expressed reservations about their confidence, while 15 percent expressed no confidence at all.
