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