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Voting Rights

Voting rights’ win locally, but problems brew nationally

An ACLU lawsuit resolved, protecting three polling places in predominantly Black parts of Fulton County from closure. Meanwhile, reversals on voting rights issues within the Department of Justice are spurring democratic state legislators to improve Georgia’s voting laws. Last month, the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections gave only a few days notice before deciding to close three polling places in Fulton County. However, state law requires two weeks of notice to allow for

Congressional District 6

Karen Handel’s history of voter suppression

As Secretary of State, Karen Handel put Georgia on the map as a leader for voter suppression tactics. Claims of “voter fraud,” one of the Right Wing’s favorite myths, led to a wave of bad policy pushed by Handel, including the use of inaccurate software to purge voters as well as the implementation of unnecessary voter ID laws. During her gubernatorial campaign (against Nathan Deal) she proudly trotted out these “accomplishments,” which earned her the endorsement

Congressional District 6

Voter registration deadline extended!

In the midst of so much bad news yesterday there is a small piece of good news: the voter registration deadline for the Congressional District 6 race between Jon Ossoff and Karen Handel has been extended. Thanks to a lawsuit from the NAACP, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and other groups, the deadline to register to vote for the June 20 special election run-off has been extended through May 21. This means that anyone who lives

Congressional District 6

More early voting sites needed in DeKalb County

The Special Election in Congressional District 6 — now a run-off between Jon Ossoff and Karen Handel — highlights barriers folks face to voting. Rep. Scott Holcomb is working to address one of those big barriers: lack of early voting sites. In a letter to the director of DeKalb County’s Voter Registration and Elections H. Maxine Daniels, Holcomb asks for DeKalb County to open an additional early voting site in the eastern portion of the

Voting Rights

Voter fraud case in South Georgia unfolds

When a community leader helps her neighbors vote, she shouldn’t get slapped with felony charges. But that’s precisely what Olivia Pearson, a long-serving City Commissioner in Douglas, is facing. Pearson has a long history of helping people overcome the mundane barriers to voting, like calling friends and family to make sure they are registered and providing rides to the polls. She’s also a black woman in a small south Georgia town that once made its

2017 Legislative Session

Wrapping up the 2017 legislative session

Georgia’s Legislature adjourned for good last week, just in time for the Masters Tournament (as always). While the at-times tumultuous session was set to end on Thursday, the gavels didn’t come down officially until early Friday morning, capping off 40 days of the most intriguing political theater in recent memory. Here’s what happened: Rigged Maps: House Bill 515, sponsored by disgraced former judge Johnnie Caldwell (WATCH Samantha Bee’s piece on Caldwell here), went down in