Dekalb County Board of Commissioners Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Day of Action Proclamation

Dekalb County Board of Commissioners Passes John Lewis Voting Rights Day of Action Proclamation

Whereas, DeKalb County is committed to advancing equitable voting rights and justice for people of all races, national origins, and ethnicities; and

Whereas, the communities in DeKalb County are immensely diverse, consisting of multiple ethnicities, languages and dialects, wide-ranging socioeconomic characteristics, and the home of more than 750,000 residents; and

Whereas, the right to vote is one of the foundational rights of all-American citizens; and

Whereas, Congressman John Lewis spent his life fighting against hate, bigotry, and equal opportunity at the voting booth inside and outside of Congress to advance voting rights for everyone; and

Whereas, voting rights are under attack nationally by state legislators introducing and passing laws to create barriers to our participation in elections; and

Whereas, May 9, 1961 marks the 60th anniversary of the South Carolina stop of the “Freedom Riders” historic bus trip from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans where John Lewis withstood violent beatings only to say, “Ours was not a struggle against individuals, ours is a struggle against a system of injustice”; and

Whereas, the late Congressman John Lewis shed his blood crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge to fight for rights of black voters and voters of color to participate in America’s electoral process, and for the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and

Whereas, The John Lewis Day of Advocacy and Action will raise awareness and protect voting rights from anti-democratic laws; and

Whereas, it behooves us as heirs of his sacrifice and life-long endeavor to celebrate his life and accomplishments and continue his life’s work to ensure everyone’s right to vote; and

Whereas, May 8, 2021, the national day of activism will bring together local coalition partners to raise awareness and create energy around protecting voting rights and all eligible voters.

Now, Therefore, WE the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners hereby proclaim, Saturday, May 8, 2021, as John Lewis’ Voting Rights Advancement Day of Action.

PROCLAIMED THIS 8th day of May 2021.

Read the official proclamation.

Bi-partisan DeKalb Board of Elections and DeKalb Democratic party urge Gov. Kemp to veto Voting Bills

Bi-partisan DeKalb Board of Elections and DeKalb Democratic party urge Gov. Kemp to veto Voting Bills

The DeKalb County Democratic Committee and Board of Registrations and Elections (DeKalb BRE) joined the DeKalb House and Senate Delegation to denounce proposed voting bills on the steps of the Gold Dome on March 17.

“I was taught never to take our precious freedoms for granted,” Republican DeKalb BRE Vice-Chair Baoky Vu said in a statement. “The proposed so-called ‘elections integrity’ legislation … is nothing short of real voter suppression. If men and women in uniform such as Pat Tillman and Humayun Khan were willing to die fighting to defend our American democracy, then we must be willing to live fighting for it.”

DeKalb Democrats Support Bipartisan DeKalb County Board of Elections And Protests Voter Suppression

DeKalb Democrats Support Bipartisan DeKalb County Board of Elections And Protests Voter Suppression

Dekalb Delegation Urges Veto, March 17th, 12:30 PM, Press Conference, GA Capital

March  15, DeKalb County, GA – The DeKalb County Democratic Committee applauds the DeKalb County Board of Registration & Elections’ statement, reaffirming the 2020 presidential election results and calling on the Georgia General Assembly to reject legislation that restricts voting access. 

 We are calling on the sponsors of HB 531 and SB 241 to withdraw their respective pieces of legislation. These continued attempts to overturn the lawful, free, and fair vote of DeKalb residents, particularly  Black and other voters of color, is a shameful and unconstitutional bid to rig future elections. 

The DeKalb Democrats stand in solidarity with the Board and with all our county’s voters in the emphatic position that the legislative efforts of the Georgia General Assembly are cynical and undemocratic. If passed, these bills would advance frivolous barricades to voting access based on false claims of voter fraud, and as the Board warns in their statement “. . . restrict and complicate voting access and hamper the ability of counties to effectively administer elections.” 

With one of the lowest drops in voter turnout (373,439 votes casted in the general and 349,927 in the runoff), DeKalb played a crucial role in determining the outcome in races won by a less than 3 percent vote margin.Despite “assurance from the highest level of elections’ authority ” that Georgia’s elections process and outcomes were the most secure and accurate in history, 28 Georgia Rebublican state legislators signed an amicus brief in support of a conspiracy-fueled Texas lawsuit to overturn the November results and invalidate the votes of hundreds of thousands of DeKalb voters. 

Now, 14 of the same legislators* have sponsored bills aimed at attacking and undermining our voting liberties. We condemn their votes against the electors of January 6th, 2021, and urge them to withdraw the anti-voter bills HB 531 and SB 241. These undemocratic proposals perpetuate bad-faith lies, undermine trust in our elections and spread misinformation about voter fraud in DeKalb.  Any other action will be a betrayal to their duty as lawmakers under Georgia and the U.S. Constitution. 

We are calling on all DeKalb elected and community leaders to stand with the Board in a bipartisan show of support against anti-democratic voter suppression bills, and to join us on Wednesday, March 17th at 12:30 pm at King Memorial MARTA station for a solidarity walk to the Capitol, followed by a brief press conference at the South Wing of the Capitol.

Co-Signed By: 

State Sen. Tonya Anderson 
State Sen. Gloria Butler
State Sen. Gail Davenport 
State Sen. Sally Harrell
State Sen. Kim Jackson
State Sen. Emanuel Jones
State Sen. Elena Parent 
State Rep. Karen Bennett
State Rep. Doreen Carter
State Rep. Viola Davis
State Rep. Karla Drenner
State Rep. Becky Evans
State Rep. Scott Holcomb
State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick
State Rep. Zulma Lopez
State Rep. Billy Mitchell
State Rep. Bee Nguyen 
State Rep. Mary Oliver 
State Rep. Renitta Shannon 
State Rep. Rhonda Taylor 
State Rep. Mike Wilensky 
State Rep. Matthew Wilson
DeKalb County District 1 Commissioner Robert Patrick 
DeKalb County District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader
DeKalb County District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson
DeKalb County District 4 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw
DeKalb County District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson 
DeKalb County Super District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry
DeKalb County Super District 7 Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson
Brian Mock, Chamblee City Council Member, At Large
Karen Lupton, Chamblee City Council Member, District 3