Just before running for governor of Georgia in 2018, Secretary of State Brian Kemp purged the state's voter registration rolls. Purges like this in southern states are a common attempt to suppress black voter turnout because the African American population in southern states tends to be less educated and poorer than the white population and, because of past history, more reluctant to venture into courthouses and public buildings to re-register.
Kemp purged over 200,000 names from the voter registration rolls but wound up winning the election over Democrat Stacey Abrahms by just 55,000 votes. Abrahms was able to motivate many of her supporters by pointing to the suppression efforts of her opponent and by organizing an effort to get the disenfranchised voters back on the registration rolls before the election.
Abrahms' efforts to get past the attempts to suppress black votes continued into the 2020 Presidential election cycle and are given the credit they are due for flipping the state's electoral votes from Trump to Joe Biden, the first Democrat to carry Georgia since Jimmy Carter did in 1976. In spite of obstacles put up to try and discourage black voters from showing up, a long list of tactics that include everything from having fewer voting machines and polling places in predominantly black precincts to outright intimidation of black voters standing in line waiting to cast their ballots, the supression effort failed.
The predominantly African-American base of Democrats in Georgia has been bolstered in the past couple of decades by an influx of mostly "liberal yankees" moving to the sun belt in Georgia mostly because of the jobs. It's been coming, but it took a measure of activism to get a higher percentage of the black vote out than normal, and disgust with the sitting President among the professional transplants now living in Georgia and flip the state.
That's how its done.
The Democratic party needs to organize a Stacy Abrahms-Keisha Lance Bottoms type of activist effort to boost voter registration rolls with Democrats and then to keep it going so that those voters make it to the polls and cast their ballots, prepared to endure whatever obstacle gets thrown in their path to make sure they cast a ballot. That certainly needs to happen in states like North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Arizona and Nevada where the influx of people from more politically liberal parts of the country is making a big difference in the ability of Democrats to win statewide elections. But I say it should be happening in every single state. Even in places that seem hopeless for Democrats, like West Virginia or Alabama, there are pockets of voters who can make a difference in a state legislative race or even a congressional district. Every victory counts. Register new voters, train them to recognize the obstacles and work to get them in line at every single election. Every. Single. Election.
An all-out assault in the courts should also accompany the activist efforts. Most of the voter suppression laws that the GOP is getting passed are unconstitutional. Some courts will rule against them, some won't, but getting as many laws overturned and legal precedents set is important. This is an important battle that must be won for the sake of our democracy itself.
This is an important battle that must be won for the sake of our democracy itself.
It starts with me. I will make whatever effort I can make in order to help make sure everyone has access to a ballot and a way to vote and that they are encouraged and motivated to do it. I made phone calls in 2020 and had a lot of fun doing it. I live in a state that is reliably Democratic so I found a way to volunteer to make calls to people in Wisconsin. It was a lot of fun, I had some engaging conversations and hopefully helped get people to vote who might not otherwise have made the effort. I've signed up to help in 2022 and I'm looking forward to it.
The frustration people feel about these laws definitely motivates people to do something about it and helping get massive numbers of voters to the polls in spite of the restrictions is the best way to work the system at the moment. Once politicians are elected who will pass laws to make voting more accessible and easier, the battle has been won. Let's keep beating them.
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