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Hispanic Federation Statement on Georgia’s Shameful Voter Suppression Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2021

Yesterday evening, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp signed into law Georgia’s state legislature voter suppression law, S.B. 202. Hispanic Federation President and CEO, Frankie Miranda, issued the following statement regarding this shameful piece of legislation:

“Yesterday was a sad day for voters in Georgia and for democracy in our nation. After losing both the November Presidential contest and the January runoff elections for U.S. Senate, the state’s Republican leaders decided to undermine the voting rights of millions of people in the state. Rather than rethink their policy priorities, which find fewer and fewer supporters each election cycle, Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican legislators have enacted a series of measures that set voting rights back decades. Just last year, the Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State celebrated that the state was “a national leader in elections.” Many of the forward-looking and voter-friendly initiatives that made the state a national model have now been gutted by politicians afraid of the will of a growing and crucial segment of voters.

We are especially troubled by the parts of the law that limit access to the ballot by shortening the window for requesting absentee ballots, limiting the number and location of drop boxes, giving county election officials the right to suspend Sunday early voting, and adding new, onerous identification requirements. Taken together, these and several other elements of the new law amount to an assault on voting rights that will require federal intervention.

Let’s be very clear that what has taken place in Georgia tonight is part of a national effort to curtail voting rights for millions of black and brown citizens, young people, immigrants and low-income elderly voters. It is a disgraceful attempt to relive the Jim Crow era and suppress communities of color from truly having a say in our nation’s political affairs.

It is now up to the United States Congress and President Biden to step up and protect voting rights by supporting and signing into law the “For the People Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act”. This legislation will put an end to the stream of voter suppression measures that have emerged from Republican dominated statehouses ever since the Supreme Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision in 2013. It is time for the federal government to protect our democracy and deny those that wish to turn back the clock on our nation’s promise that every voter’s voice should be heard and honored.”