The news dudes pretending that maybe the intent of the Georgia Jim Crow law isn't so bad & that people are overreacting simply aren't qualified to tell the truth in this moment of peril for democracy.
To bolster his view, he cites the Heritage Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation, mind you, is one of the key forces behind these anti-voter Jim Crow laws:
"Heritage, through its politics arm Heritage Action for America, is planning to spend $24 million across 8 states: AZ, FL, GA, IA, MI, NV, TX and WI." nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/…
The Heritage "Fact Check" says that there's no need to worry about the Jim Crow law letting the state usurp control over elections from select counties (surely they wouldn't target Democrat counties in Atlanta?!).
The Heritage "Fact Check" assures us the likely-GOP-appointed board that will strip election control from counties if they decide the counties aren't handling them the right way will be "non-partisan." lol
We're supposed to be totally cool with the fact that, in a state where people in 90% non-white precincts waited 8x as long in line as people in 90% white precincts (as long as 8 hours), it will now be illegal to give food or water to voters in line.
And why is that all okey-dokey? Bc it's only within 150-ft of the precinct or 25 ft of any voter in line that you're blocked from giving voters waiting for hours water/food.
And bc counties will be "allowed" to give them water if they choose. Generous!
Anyway, if you want information on the Georgia law that's not propagandistic bullshit from a partisan think-tank that's literally pushing these laws, here's a good primer: vox.com/22352112/georg…
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When folks say Georgia's voting restrictions law "expands" early voting, they're talking it requiring counties to allow Saturday voting & hold 8 hours of early voting.
Large majority Black counties already do this.
So who benefits? 1/6
A lot of rural white counties in Georgia don't offer Saturday voting or Sunday voting and, in some cases, only do half days of early voting.
This law requires GOP-leaning white to hold early voting on Saturdays & for at least 8 hours (9-5). 2/6
So this "expansion" isn't for areas with majority Black voters or Democratic-leaning voters. It's to force majority white counties to make sure Black voters don't have an advantage.
3/6
NEW: U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker is claiming that Georgia's new voter restrictions law "actually expands voting opportunities."
The Mississippi Republican is referring to a part of the law that mainly benefits rural white voters in GOP strongholds. 1/ mississippifreepress.org/10850/sen-wick…
Sen. Roger Wicker: “(Delta) Airlines CEO caves to the left with a false narrative about the new Georgia voting law, which actually expands voting opportunities. He should be ashamed of himself.”
Georgia's new law restricts voting in a number of ways, particularly ones most likely to impact Black voters.
But it actually requires rural polling places, typically in majority white, GOP-leaning parts of the state, to offer more early voting. 3/ mississippifreepress.org/10850/sen-wick…
BREAKING: After Mississippi lawmakers failed to pass early voting and Gov. Reeves vowed a veto if they did, one lawmaker and some citizens are taking the matter to voters.
If petitioners gather enough signatures and voters adopt the proposed change, the Mississippi Constitution would require AT LEAST 10 days of early voting, including the two Saturdays prior to the election.
“Long lines discourage voting, and last year, Gov. Reeves stated he would veto early voting legislation. This year, there were nine early voting bills submitted, but none of them got out of committee," said House Rep. Hestor Jackson-McCray. #MSLeg 3/ mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…
This clip, starting at 11 seconds, where @CindyHydeSmith talks about entering politics as a woman & the "crusty old buzzards" who didn't want hear there, is the kind of human story I hoped she'd share with me when I begged her campaign for a sit-down interview in 2018. 1/
NEW: For some, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's claim that a new voting rights bill would "undermine" the 19th Amendment was absurd.
For Black Mississippians, it recalled a time when white feminists not only excluded Black women, but used racism for advantage. 1/ mississippifreepress.org/10745/an-insul…
“As a woman in Congress right now, I am the beneficiary of the women who fought for women to have the right to vote. This (bill) would undermine all of this," Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said last week as she announced her opposition to #HR1. 2/ mississippifreepress.org/10745/an-insul…
“If we want to talk about suffragists, that’s part of why #HR1 is necessary. Because if you feel like this is going to take away what suffragists did, well, HR 1 aims to move past that bc it was only for white women..."
—Arekia Bennett, @MSVotes 3/ mississippifreepress.org/10745/an-insul…