Voter Suppression Archives

Georgia absentee voting: Rep. Barry Fleming’s House Bill 270 needs fixing

If changes aren’t made to give a more reasonable deadline and allow emergency applications, legislators should reject HB 270 By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman Georgia House Bill 270 is designed to fix a problem of an untenable deadline for local election officials to mail out absentee ballots. Currently, county registrars and absentee ballot clerks are required to accept absentee ballot requests up to the Friday before an election. The turnaround time is supposed to be two days, according to current law (Georgia Code 21-2-385). Since election offices are assumed to be closed on weekends, that creates a time squeeze, especially since the law further states that no absentee ballot shall be mailed (or issued) on the day prior to a primary or election. This…

As governor, Brian Kemp shifts from voter suppression to stealing elections

Update: As expected, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did not do the right thing. He let the deadline expire, thereby cancelling a special election and assuring that his appointee will serve more than two years without facing the voters. Check back for more on this. Action item: Call the governor at 404-656-1776 and tell him to appoint a district attorney TODAY so that his home folks can have a voice on the issue in November. But you’ll have to do it soon. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman Deborah Gonzalez saw this coming. On Feb. 5, Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Ken Mauldin announced his resignation effective February 29, rather than serve out his term to the end of this year. Thanks to a…

DeKalb Board of Elections plays hide-the-ball from its members

QUICK UPDATE: Today’s meeting was epic; 45 citizens attended the two-hour meeting–the longest I’ve ever seen. On this issue, Board member Dele Smith’s motion to reconsider and reverse last month’s purges of Decatur residents passed unanimously. One GOP Board member admitted the “bad optics.” Chairman Samuel Tillman complained about bloggers. I think he meant me. Sad! I’ll write more later in a new post. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The DeKalb Board of Registration and Election’s agenda for today’s meeting is fuller than usual. In addition to the more typical list of voter challenges, there’s the case of Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas, running for mayor of Lithonia. But it may be Unfinished Business that proves to be the most intriguing—and I mean that in…

Latest outrage: DeKalb Board of Elections plays hide-the-ball from its own members

QUICK UPDATE: Today’s meeting was epic; 45 citizens attended the two-hour meeting–the longest I’ve ever seen. On this issue, Board member Dele Smith’s motion to reconsider and reverse last month’s purges of Decatur voters passed unanimously. One GOP Board member admitted the “bad optics.” Chairman Samuel Tillman complained about bloggers. I think he meant me. Sad! I’ll write more later in a new post. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The DeKalb Board of Registration and Election’s agenda for today’s meeting is fuller than usual. In addition to the more typical list of voter challenges, there’s the case of Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas, who is running for mayor of Lithonia. But it may be Unfinished Business that proves to be the most intriguing—and I mean…

Making elections sporting again: Big crowd cheers Stacey Abrams launch of Georgia Fair Fight 2020

By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman Several hundred supporters packed the semi-sweltering auditorium at Gwinnett County’s Annistown Elementary School Saturday afternoon for the Georgia launch of Stacey Abrams’ Fair Fight 2020. The venue—a poll location in 2018 that drew national attention, in a bad way—was chosen as a symbol of the brokenness of Georgia’s voting systems. “We know that even though Stacey Abrams is not our governor, we did win,” declared Gwinnett School Board member Everton Blair, Jr., an introductory speaker at the event. That Georgia’s election was stolen was an article of faith among the crowd. Not just faith. Reason. Brian Kemp didn’t fight fair, and the deck was stacked to begin with. Georgia’s voting system is filled with flaws, mistakes, and an unfortunate history…

Brian Kemp takes credit for keeping Randolph Polls open

Jonathan Grant @Brambleman For the past couple of weeks, the Randolph County Election Board’s plan to close 7 of 9 polling places in the majority black county has been big news not just in Georgia but all over the U.S. and even internationally. The controversy built to a crescendo yesterday with the firing of the elections consultant who came up with this incredibly stupid idea. The Board’s 2-0 vote this morning was anticlimactic, especially since the county attorney had already said, “I would be the most surprised person in Georgia if this passed.” Dead, for this election cycle. Enter stage far-right: Georgia Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, to claim credit for being a champion of democracy. I was the first…

Brambleman

Georgia politics, history, and other stuff

Tag: Voter Suppression