File this under Voter Suppression.
There is a very serious absentee ballot scandal brewing in Georgia, especially surrounding the current runoff election. According to reports, at least two counties, Fulton and Cobb, have had problems sending out the absentee ballots requested by voters. At least 3,500 voters have not received their absentee ballots after requesting them, or have received them too late to meet the December 6th deadline. I know this is a real scandal (I would say it’s actually the crime of voter suppression) because it has happened to me. Twice.
In October, 2022, I requested an absentee ballot for the general Midterm election. The ballot was approved and the Secretary of State’s website said the ballot had been “issued”. I never received the ballot in the mail, which surprised me. I then went and voted in person, because I didn’t trust that I would ever receive the absentee ballot, and I never did.
I then requested another absentee ballot as soon as I legally could in November, 2022, for the December 6th Senate runoff in Georgia. I never received that ballot either, even though the Sec. of State’s website said my ballot had been approved and again, “issued”, on November 22nd. The ballot never came. The same thing happened to my partner, who lives with me. The Ballot was approved and issued, and never came (to date).
This seems like obvious voter suppression, and it also seems deliberate. (There are currently two ACLU lawsuits pending about this matter in Georgia.) The voting time for the runoff had already been reduced to a week mandatory, and only a little bit longer than that for other counties, and here I am waiting for an absentee ballot that never came. How many thousands of other people are also still waiting for a ballot that will never come? I recommend that if anyone is still waiting for that elusive ballot, just go vote on election day if you possibly can. Election Day is Tuesday, December 6th, and we know that Republicans don’t want us to vote, so make sure you do!
A good article on all of this is here at the AJC website.
The lawsuit says the Cobb County Board of Elections allegedly failed to send out over 3,400 absentee ballots on time for the runoff election.
This investigation joins one that was already opened regarding the county’s failure to mail absentee ballots requested for the general election.
The absentee ballot process worked great in the 2020 election. After that election, thanks to Republican paranoia and pressure from the former president and his minions, the voting laws in Georgia were changed. Ballot boxes were moved inside buildings, early voting was shortened, absentee voting was made a much slower process, picture IDs were required, and other things like that were put into effect, to the detriment of ease of voting.
This situation should be investigated by the media and by the Georgia state officials. This seems like clear voter suppression to me. CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, all major media networks should investigate this!
Brad Raffensperger, for all the accolades he received in 2021 for not throwing the election to Donald Trump, (the bare minimum required of him) is actively engaged in voter suppression in Georgia. Don’t forget how hard he fought to take away Saturday voting after Thanksgiving. He has also spoken out against the judge’s remedy after the ACLU’s case that absentee ballots were mailed late (or never mailed) to voters – he believes it’s “unfair” to give disenfranchised voters 2-3 extra days to make sure their ballots are counted! Raffensperger and the Republicans are still up to their shady tactics, and we have to be extra vigilant they don’t get away with suppressing the vote in two of Georgia’s most Democrat-heavy counties.
Also see this article by Democracy Docket, discussing just what Brad Raffensperger really wanted to happen in this Senate runoff.
Georgia election officials, supported by the Republican Party, tried to prevent 70,050 citizens from voting this past Saturday in the hotly contested runoff election for U.S. Senate between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker. While Republicans didn’t get away with it, the fact that they tried should be a national outrage.
Don’t let them get away with it! Vote on Tuesday the 6th!
#Raffensperger #VoterSuppression #AbsenteeBallotScandal #AbsenteeBallots #SenateRunoff #GeorgiaRunoff
Voter suppression in Georgia is real!