Atlanta, GA – Over the weekend, Georgia Organizers for Active Transformation (GOAT), a coalition comprised of 30+ voting rights, state, and grassroots groups representing millions of Georgia voters, sent a letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ask that his office respect the Georgia Superior Court’s decision to allow early voting on Saturday, November 26 and rescind its unconscionable appeal of the ruling.
Recognizing that early voting requires additional work from election workers across the state — and with deep gratitude for their service to our democracy — the groups also called on all 159 Georgia counties and their Boards of Elections to meet voter demand and provide the resources needed to ensure voting is open across the state on November 26.
“Secretary Raffensperger’s appeal of the Georgia Superior Court’s ruling is appalling but not surprising. It follows the Secretary’s long history of cracking down on Georgians’ access to the ballot box, particularly among communities of color, young people, and working people,” said Ashley Robinson, Executive Director of Progress Georgia. “Voting for this Runoff Election is already sorely limited. This is yet another tactic to make it harder for voters who disagree with the Secretary to make their voices heard. It’s time for the Secretary to put the rights of Georgian voters above political interests.”
“Georgia voters deserve more than six days of early voting ahead of a pivotal election that will determine who represents us in the United States Senate,” said New Georgia Project Policy Director, Stephanie Jackson Ali. “We have called all of Georgia’s 159 counties multiple times to gather details on each county’s early voting dates, times, and locations and to work with them to expand voting to Saturday, November 26–after Friday’s ruling–and Sunday, November 27. It’s ridiculous that we have to do this work because our elections administration is woefully underfunded and each county can make their own rules. We implore Secretary Raffensperger to allow the option of early voting on Saturday, November 26 to stand as a necessary step to supporting Georgians’ right to the ballot box.”
“Brad Raffensperger has built his career on suppressing Georgians’ right to vote,” said Fair Fight Executive Director Cianti Stewart-Reid. “By continuing to fight against weekend voting—in an already shortened runoff period when voters have limited opportunities to cast a ballot—his office is directly working to deny eligible voters chances to have their voices heard. Fair Fight calls on Secretary Raffensperger to accept the court’s ruling and, instead of being part of the problem, work with counties to ensure every Georgia voter has the opportunity for weekend voting in this historic US Senate Runoff.”
Ahead of the December 6 Runoff Election, GOAT are continuing to educate voters on their rights, fight attempts to suppress our voices, and turn out voters in favor of pro-democracy leaders.
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About Georgia Organizers for Active Transformation and Progress Georgia
Georgia Organizers for Active Transformation works with Progress Georgia, which is part of the Progress Now network, Progress Georgia is a political digital and communications hub for the progressive movement in Georgia. Progress Georgia works to uplift the values and voices of the progressive movement across the state by keeping politicians accountable and elevating the issues that matter most to our communities. Learn more at https://progressga.org/.
