OPINION: Breaking records doesn’t mean breaking barriers

Contrary to the claims, and despite having 300,000 more residents and 500,000 more registered voters than in the last midterm elections in 2018, overall voter participation in the 2022 general election decreased, according to an analysis by Emory University. Part of this depressed turnout was lower participation among Black and Hispanic voters.

Of registered voters in Georgia, Black participation rates dropped from 47.8% to 43.2%, while Hispanic participation fell from 27.6% to 25.1%. When compared with growing white voter turnout in Georgia (although marginally at 0.4 percent), there is a clear and present threat — that must be addressed by lawmakers who want to protect all voters’ freedom to vote in safe, accessible elections.

A glaring example of S.B. 202’s impact was the 81% drop in mail-in voting. When compared to the height of the pandemic in 2020, a drop in mail-in voting was expected and seen nationwide, but compared to other states, Georgia’s drop was more pronounced.

S.B. 202 cut the amount of time to request a mail-in ballot in half, moved the turn-in deadline up by a week, severely reduced access to ballot dropboxes, and removed the ability to request an absentee ballot online while imposing extra, unnecessary steps, like requiring ballot applications be printed out and signed in ink.

For the runoff election, several Georgians never received their ballot, despite requesting immediately, or they received their ballot so close to the runoff election day that they were unable to return it by the deadline without spending significant amounts of money for overnight delivery. This is effectively a poll tax.

Vote by mail wasn’t the only thing that was negatively impacted by S.B. 202. The bill also imposed unnecessary hurdles by shortening the Senate runoff period from nine to four weeks, therefore shortening the early voting period from three weeks to one. Cutting back early voting — which is the best or only option for many who are bound by work and childcare — is exactly why we saw record breaking turnout in — one week!

Logic will follow that when there’s less time to vote early and even less time to secure an absentee ballot, you will see higher daily turnout numbers and longer wait times.

Then there were Republicans’ legal efforts to prevent Saturday early voting. The Secretary of State and Republican organizations fought in court to limit access during an already compressed voting period.

Ultimately the courts sided with democracy and allowed counties to choose Saturday voting. According to data from the Secretary of State, Black voters made up the highest percentage of Saturday voters, making it clear who would have been most affected by blocking it.

This election cycle, we’ve seen what happens when laws are passed to make voting harder. The truth is, anti-voting laws across the South are specifically targeted against Black and Brown voters, aimed at removing our freedom to have a say in the important decisions that impact us everyday. Georgia voters understand this threat to our freedom, and that’s why they’ve turned out, in spite of the continued efforts to silence our voices.

From the candidate who filed the lawsuit, who has run five times in two years for what is typically a six-year term: “Just because people endured the long lines in the cold and rain …doesn’t mean voter suppression does not exist. It simply means that you, the people, decided that your voices will not be silenced.”

S.B. 202’s architects were afraid of the power of the people and that’s why our goal, as pro-democracy legislators, is to create a transparent process that we can all trust.

We must look to 2024 and beyond, and work to protect our freedom to vote. Imagine the records we could break by removing needless barriers, ensuring safe and accessible elections, and making sure that every vote counts.