Civil Rights Groups Warn of a Grim Future for Black Voters Without Court Intervention
Black voters had record turnout in Georgia’s Senate runoff despite disenfranchisement attempts. A new lawsuit says court intervention is necessary to prevent future meddling.
Voters wait in a long line to vote at the Buckhead library in Atlanta on the first day of In-person early voting for the Georgia Senate runoff election.
Photographer: Jason Armond/Los Angeles TimesA defining feature of Georgia’s Senate runoff election on Tuesday will likely be record-high turnout of Black voters, fueled by expansive voter mobilization work to elect the first Black Democratic senator from a former Confederate state. What makes that triumph more salient is that it happened as the president of the United States was actively trying to cancel out thousands of votes from majority-Black Georgia counties from the November election.
“Georgia has a long history of Black voter suppression and intimidation — tactics that were at play again in the November and runoff election,” said NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherillyn Ifill in a statement. “Despite these challenges, Black voters were not deterred and demonstrated resilience and determination in absentee voting, early voting and on election day.”