Revealed: Georgia Republicans use power of state to suppress minority vote

[CottonBear]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/02/georgia-republians-political-opponents-voter-intimidation

Revealed: Georgia Republicans use power of state to suppress minority vote

Top Republicans Brad Raffensperger and David Emadi are issuing subpoenas to opponents without showing evidence of wrongdoing

Jordan Wilkie
Mon 2 Sep 2019 02.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 2 Sep 2019 02.02 EDT

Top Georgia Republicans continue to use the power of the state to investigate political rivals, executing a strategy that voting rights activists say is designed to intimidate voting rights organizations and activists serving minority communities.

Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, and David Emadi, executive secretary of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, are investigating and issuing subpoenas to political opponents, without publicly showing evidence there was wrongdoing by those parties.

Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, pioneered the tactic as secretary of state, where he used his authority to investigate political opponents, liberal political groups and get out the vote (GOTV) organizers working in racial minority communities.

To date, none of the investigations, subpoenas, arrests or prosecutions against political opponents and minority GOTV organizers have led to convictions, meaning that Kemp’s – and now Raffensperger and Emadi’s – political rivals remain innocent of charges brought against them.

...more at link...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/02/georgia-republians-political-opponents-voter-intimidation

[Maine-i-acs]

1. it's the Putin - Bolsonaro model

also was effective in the Ukraine
raise questions about opponents' integrity without needing to prove it
in Bolsonaro's case, send them to jail on Trumped up charges
in Putin's case, encourage rabid followers to beat, imprison or execute them outright

[CottonBear]

3. Exactly.

I live in Georgia. I worked on a GOTV campaign in my town during the last gubernatorial election. The election was stolen by and for Kemp and the GA GOP.

[Maine-i-acs]

9. Georgia is ground zero for machine based voter fraud

starting with Max Cleland's senate bid (if not before)
The code to flip votes was named after him at the time.

[CDerekGo]

2. This may seem to be 'Putin' model

But this is classic KKK, Southern, keep ‘em where we can see ‘em tactics. Voter Suppression, albeit, in more oppressive, aggressive, let’s use more than Street cred fashion.

Until the GOP, and Gerrymandering is forever banished, this will only continue.

[CottonBear]

4. It's a modernized form of voter suppression.

...snip...


But voting rights activists say there is a trend in Georgia of Republicans using the power of an elected office to investigate political opponents as a voter intimidation tactic.

Voter intimidation has changed its nature since the billy club and water hose violence of the 1960s, according to Carol Anderson, a historian studying public policy and race at Emory University.

Because voter intimidation is no longer exercised through violence, and is instead exercised through subpoenas and investigations, Anderson argues the practice does not register as strongly with the public. Voter intimidation by the state, however, remains closely tied to race. In today’s politics, race and party are almost indistinguishable, Anderson said, blurring the lines between what is politically or racially motivated.

“Because we don’t see the night stick, because we don’t see the teargas, it doesn’t register for us as intimidation. But it is just as powerful, just as malignant, just as malevolent … the whole point is that blacks get hurt worse than whites,” said Anderson.

..snip...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/02/georgia-republians-political-opponents-voter-intimidation

Brian Kemp spent years as GA SoS working to deny the vote to blacks and other minority groups. He ran for Governor while he was SoS.

I detest Kemp and the GA GOP. They are truly evil.

[sharedvalues]

5. GA-Gov Kemp (R) stole his election. He's illegitimate.

Also illegitimate:
DeSantis (FL-gov, R): stole his election
Scott (FL-Sen, R): stole his election.


All three above stole their elections with GOP voter suppression. They’re all three illegitimate.

Dems should refuse to ever call Rick Scott “Senator”, because he is illegitimate

[CottonBear]

6. The only way to win elections in GA now is massive turnout.

So many people don’t ever vote. The only way we can rid ourselves of the GOP in Georgia and Florida is massive voter turnout. Even then, it will be extremely difficult to overcome voter suppression and electronic vote rigging.

[sharedvalues]

7. Yes, absolutely

I just wish Dems would be more willing to say

"Kemp is illegitimate. Kemp stole his election."

Same for Rick Scott - Dems should refuse to call him "Senator". They should filibuster and object to every move he makes. "The man from Florida illegitimate. We object to his motion on principle".

[sharedvalues]

8. Why Scott is illegitimate

In Florida, where Republicans have controlled the levers of power for a quarter-century, restrictive voting laws are a persistent threat. In 2012, under Governor Rick Scott, state officials brawled with the federal government over a campaign to remove suspected noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls by using flawed data that disproportionately targeted nonwhite voters. He imposed new barriers on Floridians who sought to regain their voting rights after completing their sentences—changes that favored white and Republican applicants over those from other backgrounds. In 2011, he signed a controversial law that cut early voting days in half and made it harder for third-party groups to register new voters. Will Republican governor-elect Ron DeSantis, assuming he survives a potential recount, pick up where Scott left off?

https://newrepublic.com/article/152141/2020-election-come-voter-suppression

Done. Stolen. Scott stole his seat with voter suppression.