Suffrage activists are calling for more action and fewer words from the White House ahead of President Biden’s visit to Georgia this week.
Activists want Congress to pass a national law on voting rights. Republican-led state parliaments across the country – including Georgia – have passed laws restricting access to voting. And this week the Georgian legislature meets to discuss further restrictions.
James Woodall, a public order worker at the Southern Center for Human Rights, is an activist who signed a letter last week urging Biden and Vice President Harris not to come to Georgia if they just wanted to give speeches.
Former Georgia NAACP president says Biden and Harris will come to Georgia the day after the state general assembly is re-convened to rule on laws like banning ballot boxes. Aside from speeches, electoral activists in the state want the White House to take immediate action against voter suppression nearly a year after the Georgia Senate passed restrictive 202 Bill.
“We don’t have any more time,” he says. “We need them to say the right things. Yes, we need them to send a message and make that kind of speech. But what we really need is the actual legislation to be signed. “
Interview highlights
About Biden’s predicament with a 50-50 split in the Senate and not every Democrat on board with his voting legislation
“Well, that’s exactly what the President has to say. Besides that, I don’t know what else he could say. Will they call for the Senate to be restored and a yes to a filibuster carve? Will they ask for this to happen this week as we are desperately running out of time? Will you specifically call on Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to be on the right side of history? We have yet to see the President and the Vice President and the White House, quite frankly, calling out very energetically to those who stand in the way of voting. Democracy has gotten to a very interesting point where there will be democracy for none of us unless these types of forceful action are taken. Regardless of the challenges they face, they were chosen to do so. They kept running because they were able to see through the intricacies of the Senate. They’ve been in for decades. So now is the time to put your navigation skills to the test in these waters. We have done our part. “
On the back and forth between the parties on voting rights
“I urge us not to look at this in terms of partisanship, because when you look at the disenfranchisement of voters in this whole country and even here in Georgia in particular, it is people on both sides of the aisle or on both sides of the issue who is disenfranchised. If you look at laws like here in Georgia, where we have a moral rejection clause, where detainees are banned from voting, or when you talk about rural voters who have access to the ballot box, then you are talking about district electoral officials being removed from their posts just because they are one party or the other. You’re talking about counties like Lincoln County, Georgia, which remove six out of seven counties, the majority of which are African American majority counties. So this is not a partisan problem. And I guarantee you that once a Republican leads government there will be similar concerns, and we have seen that. So what we are calling for, what we are calling for now, is the fight against voter suppression at district, state and federal level. Stop putting on a show and get to work because you shouldn’t be here in Atlanta. There is no vote on federal law here in Atlanta. You have to be in DC and pass it this week. “
On the need to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021
“We have seen a conglomerate of laws across this nation that really deprive voters of all kinds and backgrounds from voting. You have automatic voter registration. They have gerrymandered cards. You have the option, like here in Georgia, the Secretary of State is no longer chairman or voting member of the state election committee. You have so many things that are quite frankly outrageous that really put a focus on voter suppression and that really reminds us of Jim Crow’s legacy. It’s been nearly 10 years since the Shelby V. Holder suffrage law was stamped out. The decision in the Shelby v. Holder at the Supreme Court and we have seen no federal reaction that this formula, which included many of the states that implemented Jim Crow policies in the 20th century, is still involved in electoral repression. We see voter purges literally every year. And again there is no reaction. Hence, these two pieces of legislation are necessary and we have not seen any compromise that could address them outside of these two pieces of legislation. “
On the bill in Georgia that would only allow citizens to vote
“Everyone deserves to be represented in this country because they pay all taxes and are part of our community. And to signal that here in Georgia non-citizens vote is simply not true. Georgian law is already clear, and what we are seeing are very real and very scary and very disturbing signals for racist vigilante groups to continue to use violence against our communities, regardless of whether they are indigenous communities or not are immigrant communities. And we take that very seriously. And instead of, you know, giving vent to these very racist topics of conversation, we’re just instructing our communities to make sure we protect one another and get involved in this thing called democracy. “
On Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s investigation into the state’s election campaign. Georgia law states that only family members or caregivers can collect and cast a person’s ballot papers.
“We have not yet received any results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s investigation. He’s legally required to investigate, but nothing we’ve done is illegal. Nothing we’ve done is unethical, and we’re just trying to ensure that “Our communities are both organized and involved in democracy. We have seen the legislature try to criminalize our participation in democracy, and that’s why we will continue to fight against any of their motivations to criminalize our work because at the end of the year on that day it will challenge their power. We didn’t do anything wrong. We haven’t done anything illegal and we will continue to stand by that claim. “
Lynn Menegon produced and edited this interview for the show with Todd Mundt. Allison Hagan adapted it for the web.