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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

Elections

Black woman caught up in Georgia’s racist voter suppression tactics

One Georgia woman is facing felony charges over her efforts to help her family and community vote. But these sorts of racist, voter intimidation tactics are not new for Georgia. Olivia Pearson, as reported by Buzzfeed, offers rides and voting assistance to her family and neighbors, including shuttling her nephew to the polls during the 2012 presidential election to make sure he voted. Now Pearson, along with four other Douglas residents, are being charged with