Thread: two years ago today, GA was alone & battling to #CountEveryVote. All the organizers, volunteers, & campaign staff hadn’t slept in months, but we were still fighting, alone.
Gov. Nathan Deal, who watched an election get stolen, called a special election during this time
He called the special election supposedly to help GA’s farmers after their crops and fields were destroyed by Hurricane Michael, but we knew it was truly to parade Kemp around so he could look like governor-elect despite who knows how many ballots were left uncounted.
So after having enough, someone Georgia’s bravest and hardest working organizers like Mary Hooks led a protest inside the GA Capitol.
Georgia Capitol police surrounded them because they were simply chanting #CountEveryVote.
The Capitol police em swarmed in and violently arrested them and took them to Fulton County Jail on Rice Street, and they weren’t released until after midnight.
Two days later, Stacey Abrams gave the speech that left Georgia hopeful and knowing we could not give up.
During these 10 days, staff and volunteers were calling back 50k GA voters who had a problem voting and/or were denied their right to vote. Due of that effort, @fairfightaction was able to file a lawsuit that would end up forcing reforms and saved 22,000 voters from being purged
Fair Fight Action, along with the organizers who got arrested in the Capitol and other progressive GA-based organizations fought hard in the 2019 legislative session despite the real and painful exhaustion. Brian Kemp was attempting to ban abortion and...
The GA GOP was forcing unfunded mandates onto Georgia’s 159 counties to purchase problematic voting machines (the ones Trump is now complaining about) despite GA Dems and orgs raising red flags.
But during the time, 800,000 voters were being registered to vote thanks to organizations and people like Ms. Helen Butler, @NewGAProject, @BlackVotersMtr, @Georgia_NAACP, and so many more. Nearly 50% of these new voters were under 35, half of them being voters of color
And still, GA was alone but working in strong coalition with each other thanks to strong tables set up by @AmericaVotes.
And now here we are in GA with the whole world watching. So to be clear: for those wanting to drive and fly down here, thank you so much for caring; we appreciate it. But please know, the best thing you can do is invest. For example, look at this chart:
With your investment, GA and Georgians can determine who controls the US Senate. We believe in us, and we’ve set up the infrastructure to make it work. And with your investment—specifically to smaller Black and Brown led orgs—we got this.
And Georgia, I love you. With all my heart. And because of us, the country now knows the power of #CountEveryVote
Apologies, Gov. Deal called a special session* not election. Again, we’re tired.
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Let me get this straight (and it’s a long list): 1. The party allowed Brian Kemp to target Black and Brown voters to prevent a Black woman—who is known for working across the aisle—from becoming governor
2. The party never condemned Brian Kemp for falsely accusing the Democratic Party of Georgia of hacking and calling the FBI which terrorized the diverse campaign staff, including myself.
3. The party fought tooth and nail to protect Confederate monuments last year and gave racist speeches from the well. They also passed an anti-abortion bill that could increase our internationally-known & record high maternally mortality rates for Black women
2. Reestablishing a Georgia grassroots organizing base: training and mobilizing hundreds of Democracy Warriors from over 45 counties (vast majority of those being rural) to mobilize and advocate for voting rights in their communities.