On #NationalVoterRegistrationDay, Georgians targeted directly by Gov. Brian Kemp for working to turn out voters are calling out his history of voter suppression.
Commissioner Olivia Coley-Pearson and Mayor Nancy Dennard were arrested and investigated, and acquitted.
THREAD.👇
Olivia Coley Pearson, the first Black woman elected to the Douglas City Commission, faced 3 investigations by the State Election Board (chaired by Kemp) for helping a first-time voter understand how to use a voting machine. She was acquitted of all charges.
After 2 trials, Commissioner Coley-Pearson's name was finally cleared.
To recap — Commissioner Coley-Pearson was criminally charged for helping a first time voter in Coffee County.
Coffee County is the very same county that a fake Trump elector helped Trump campaign operatives access voting machines the same day a voting system there was breached.
Former Quitman Mayor Dr. Nancy Dennard was part of a group of Black women known as the Quitman 10+2 who then-Secretary of State Kemp launched an investigation against after they organized to flip the majority-white school board.
Kemp sent armed investigators door-to-door in Black neighborhoods to arrest and charge the women, despite having no evidence of voter fraud. After 4 years of facing charges over small “breaches of absentee ballot procedure,” all charges were dropped.
Brian Kemp has consistently taken action that detrimentally impacted the ability of voters of color to cast a ballot.
Georgians, listen to Commissioner Olivia Coley-Pearson and former Mayor Nancy Dennard — check your voter registration status before the October 11 deadline and make a plan to vote early: GeorgiaDemocrat.org/vote
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NEW: Tomorrow the Supreme Court will rehear a case that could let the GOP grab 19 new, safe U.S. House seats by gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
I wrote for @Slate about how the far-right justices seem ready to help Republicans lock in one party rule for decades. ⬇️
After a court found Louisiana’s congressional map violated the VRA by weakening Black voters’ power, the GOP legislature was ordered to draw a 2nd majority-Black district.
When they fixed the map, non-Black voters sued, saying fixing the discrimination was itself discrimination.
The argument's logic twists the 14th + 15th Amendments, created to protect voting rights, in an attempt to destroy them. It should've been laughed out of court.
But a lower court embraced it and an appeal was accepted by the Supreme Court.
NEW: Next week, the Supreme Court will re-hear a case that could allow Republicans to create 19 new safe U.S. House seats by gutting what’s left of the Voting Rights Act.
The far-right majority may finally be ready to finish the VRA off.
Here’s what’s at stake. ⬇️
This all started in 2022 when a court found Louisiana’s congressional map violated the VRA by weakening Black voting power.
The court ordered a fix: draw a second majority-Black district.
NEW: Today, the Republican Party is pushing a judge to jail Fulton County commissioners.
Why? They refuse to vote to appoint two far-right election denial activists to the Fulton County Election Board who have a history of undermining elections.
Here's what they had to say. ⬇️
Fulton County Commissioner @TheDanaBarrett:
When I ran for a seat on the county commission I never thought I’d be facing jail time for doing my job – but here we are. Elections are under attack all across this country.
@TheDanaBarrett .@TheDanaBarrett: One of the main reasons I ran…was because I am committed to defend the integrity of our elections in Fulton County -- the largest urban county in a swing state and a critical county in the fight for the future of our democracy.
Trump just announced a new executive order – he wants to use federal power to control elections.
This is a dangerous power grab and part of Republicans’ plan to rig 2026. ⬇️
Here’s what Trump says about the coming executive order:
–Eliminates mail voting
–Bans drop boxes
–Restricts absentee voting
–Strips states of authority to run elections
This puts elections under federal control – opposing the Constitution, which says states run elections.
Putin said you can’t have an honest election with mail voting – Trump said on August 15 when discussing their meeting. (video @atrupar)
Then, Trump announced an executive order to eliminate mail voting.
Reminder: Trump voted by mail as recently as 2020.