Abrams Gives Voice to New Voting Rights Movement

November 19, 2018; Truthout

Stacey Abrams is emerging from the Georgia governor’s race with a strong reputation and a promise to fight for voter rights. Truthout’s Greg Palast writes, “Yes, Abrams is the first African American woman nominated for governor by the Democratic Party. More revolutionary is that she is the first Democratic candidate to demand an end to racist ethnic cleansing of the voter rolls.”

Abrams has launched a new nonprofit, Fair Fight Georgia, a PAC which will “pursue accountability in Georgia’s elections and integrity in the process of maintaining our voting rolls.” Her first mission is a lawsuit against the state of Georgia to challenge the legitimacy of the 2018 midterm election and protect against such future actions. This could lead to another round of voting on the Georgia governor’s race.

At issue is “expert analysis proving 340,134 voters were wrongly purged by her opponent when he was secretary of state.”

Republican Rick Tyler says, “I wish we could all have faith in the system and the process. Then we could count votes, listen to gracious concession speeches and all just move on. That’s not where we are.”

Palast notes, “That is why Abrams technically did not concede but rather dropped her claim to office.”

According to Palast, Abrams has been aware of Gov. Brian Kemp’s stealth voter purging scheme since 2014. He advises us not to “miss the power of this moment.” Like others, he is claiming this moment as the beginning of a new rights movement.”—Cyndi Suarez