Voting rights groups say GOP-backed bills in Georgia are a reminder of Jim Crow-era tactics

Voting rights groups say GOP-backed bills in Georgia are a reminder of Jim Crow-era tactics

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However, their efforts could be reversed by Republican-backed bills passed by the Georgian legislature, which activists say are reminiscent of tactics used to prevent blacks from voting in the South during the Jim Crow era.

“We know they are black voters,” said Cliff Albright, co-founder of Atlanta-based Black Voters Matter. “These (legislation) notes are dripping into Jim Crow’s blood.”

Black Voters Matter, the Georgia NAACP, the New Georgia Project and other civil rights groups are now in a fight to protect the black voting power. They launched a campaign this week to stop voter restrictions from moving forward.

They also demand that Congress pass legislation on federal suffrage that will return the laws at the state level.

On Wednesday, the House took a step against it by passing HR 1, also known as the For the People Act, which is a comprehensive ethics and election bill that increases access to votes.

The controversy over voting rights comes as the civil rights community honored the 56th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ for the first time this weekend without the voting rights icon John Lewis, who passed away last year. Lewis is praised as a hero who fought tirelessly for equal suffrage for black people. Voting leaders have vowed to keep his legacy alive.

House adopts comprehensive election bill that would counter GOP's efforts to restrict access to voters

Georgia State House passed a bill this week that includes several measures restricting access to the vote, including a ban on automatic voter registration, a restriction on early voting on Sunday and ballots, and a number of restrictions and ID requirements for absence. The bill comes after former President Donald Trump made unfounded allegations of a fraudulent election in 2020, saying there was widespread voter fraud in Georgia.

Albright said the proposals are aimed directly at the methods used to mobilize black voters. He said limiting early voting on Sunday, for example, was a direct attack on ‘Souls to the Polls’ – a campaign led by black churches. A CNN analysis found that black voters made up 34.6% of voters who had to vote earlier on the three weekend voting days that were eliminated during Georgia’s legislative proposal.
The bill also bans free food and drink from being served to people standing in line to vote. Volunteers regularly served pizza and chips to voters who stood in line for several hours at mostly black areas in the Atlanta area.

“Clearly, the attack is based on when it is and how it is that they know black voters are being mobilized to come out,” Albright said. “They know they can not win elections if we extend access to the vote, or even if we just maintain it.”

Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King jr. And Coretta Scott King, said the measures supported by Republicans are a more “sophisticated” version of the Jim Crow practices that prevented black people from voting. He noted, for example, that many black people were forced to take literacy tests that were impossible to pass during the Jim Crow era. Now they are being suppressed with shortened voting walls and limited days, he said.

“I think it definitely goes back to the Jim Crow era because it has a racist tone,” King said. “You are targeting communities of color, and historically the African-American community is largely voting for Democrats.”

A nationwide effort to ‘protect our power’

Some black voters in Georgia say the measures are discouraging and could affect returns.

Calvin Payne of Vinings, Georgia, said many black voters could not afford to quit their jobs or stand in line for hours to vote, so they needed extensive access.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Payne said. “When we make things difficult, people say, ‘OK, I do not have to vote.’ ”

Albright’s Black Voters Matter and other groups hold rallies, print global advertisements, conduct telephone banking campaigns, and seek support from businesses and corporations to advance their efforts to prevent state laws.

Their campaign has garnered support from the NBA, which is teaming up with LeBron James’ ‘More Than A Vote’ during the All Star rallies in Atlanta this weekend to raise awareness of how state proposals oppress black voters. The group is launching a campaign called Protect Our Power, which, in addition to fighting these laws in states, will also want to mobilize black voters in foreign and municipal elections.

The Georgia proposals reflect Republican-backed bills that have sprung up across the country. In February, state legislatures in 43 states introduced more than 250 restrictive bills, according to a version from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

Black lawmakers and leaders vowed to protect voting rights

National Urban League president Marc Morial has issued a statement urging the Senate to act on HR 1.

Morial said: “We watched with dismay as lawmakers from across the country responded to record turnout among colored voters with aggressive racial restrictions.” “Last night, the House of Representatives wonderfully opposed this anti-democracy movement by adopting a comprehensive extension of the voting right contained in the House of Assembly Act. Now the Senate must do the same.”

Senate Democrats told reporters on Wednesday they were determined to pass legislation to protect the right to vote. Georgia’s Sen. Raphael Warnock called the Republican-led state measures “undemocratic.”

“We need to be clear: it is not their job as politicians to choose their voters. It is the job of the voters to choose who they will represent,” Warnock said during a virtual roundtable meeting for black journalists. ‘We will work very hard to approve the For the People Act (s) the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore important voting protection and expand access to the vote, and we will fight every day to get it done. ”

Georgia NAACP President James Woodall said the restrictions on voting in the State House were unfair and could potentially violate existing federal laws on voting rights. Woodall said his NAACP chapter is prepared to take legal action if necessary.

“We need to create a situation where elections are not only safe, secure and accessible, but also comply with federal law,” Woodall said.

CNN’s Annie Grayer, Clare Foran and Dan Merica contributed.

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