Platform: Livable Wage

  • At least a $15/hr. minimum wage and help for small businesses to meet that requirement over a period of time.
  • The elimination of “Right to Work” laws which are designed to prevent union organizing and to assist unscrupulous employers in exploiting their employees.
  • Earned overtime and benefits such as paid family and medical leave, sick days, vacation time, and assistance with childcare.
  • Equal pay for women.
  • Safe working conditions.
  • Strengthening collective bargaining units and freedom of association.
  • The protection of labor standards and employment protections.
  • Protection of pensions and retirement benefits.
  • Passage of the WAGE Act (Workplace Action for a Growing Economy) which ensures the rights of workers to organize without retribution.

Platform: Civil Rights

DeKalb Democrats will always fight to end discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The DeKalb Democrats support the enactment of comprehensive Hate Crime legislation in Georgia to ensure that all Georgians are protected from crimes committed against a person on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

DeKalb Democrats support the rights of individual communities to make decisions about Confederate Monuments and other historic markers that may be deemed to honor and glorify the Confederacy.  The DeKalb Democrats support efforts to remove the Confederate monument from the City of Decatur Square.

Platform: Voting Rights

The DeKalb Democrats support fair elections and the enactment of laws that will ensure maximum citizen participation in voting.  The DeKalb Democrats will oppose any legislation requiring voter identification or other measures to suppress the vote.

  • Automatic voter registration should be implemented.  Eligible voters would be automatically registered to vote whenever they interact with government agencies, such as the department of motor vehicles.  Eligible voters would be registered by default, unless they request not to be.
  • Voting rights should be restored to convicted felons.  Voting rights would automatically be restored upon completion of parole, and people on probation can vote.
  • County wide voting should be implemented, allowing citizens to vote in any polling place in their county of residence.

Platform: Gerrymandering

DeKalb Democrats adhere to the concept of one-person, one-vote by putting forward an independent redistricting commission of members who haven’t served in a legislative capacity within an election cycle, composed of an even number of Democrats and Republicans and an odd number of Independents based on each member’s voter profiles.

Platform: Election Integrity

DeKalb Democrats support efforts to replace Georgia’s current direct recording electronic (DRE) voting system with a paper ballot scanning system as soon as possible.  The current system is outdated, does not provide for voter-verification of voter intent, does not provide for audits, does not provide for recounts, does not provide transparency, and provides questionable security.  A paper ballot scanning system would address the above concerns.

The new paper ballot-scanning system would provide:

  • standards and procedures for voters to mark permanent paper ballots, including provisions for ADA/HAVA-compliant accessibility
  • precinct-based optical scan machines for voters to cast and count voter-verified paper ballots
  • post-election, mandatory manual risk-limiting audits
  • authorization for paper ballots to serve as ballots of record

*Hand marking on paper ballots is the most economical method for voting.  Purchase of ballot-marking devices for all voters would add approximately $70 million to the cost of replacement.  Use of ballot-marking devices can be limited to one per precinct to provide disability access.

Platform: Healthcare

Georgia should expand Medicaid.  This position is based on the premise that all Americans should have access to healthcare, as well the fact that it is economically beneficial to accept the Federal dollars associated with the expansion. DeKalb Democrats oppose efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. The DeKalb Democrats support measure that will increase access to affordable healthcare for all Georgians.

  • Expanding Medicaid would add approximately 600,000 people to the rolls, most of them men and women without children.
  • Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka “Obamacare,” the Federal government would pay 90% of the cost of people newly eligible.
  • Expanding Medicaid would stop the steady stream of rural hospitals (7 currently) that have been forced to close.
  • Expanding Medicaid would be an economic stimulus because of the additional healthcare jobs that would become available.  The benefits would be felt particularly in underserved, poorer rural areas.
  • Expanding it would add roughly 600,000 people to the rolls, most of them men and women without kids. Under the ACA, the federal government would pay 90 percent of the cost of people newly eligible under an expanded program.
  • Nationwide, more than two dozen states have expanded Medicaid under the ACA, while Georgia and 18 others have not.

Platform: Gun Violence

Right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation

We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements–like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole–so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.

Reauthorize assault weapons ban, close gun show loophole

We will protect Americans’ Second Amendment right to own firearms, and we will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by fighting gun crime, reauthorizing the assault weapons ban, and closing the gun show loophole.

Support legislative efforts to ban possession and use of bump stocks

Bump stock devices enable semi-automatic weapons to mimic the action of fully automatic weapons, putting the public at greater danger.  They belong on the list of dangerous weapons that Georgia law prohibits.

Strengthen gun control to reduce violence

We need mandatory child safety locks. We should require a photo license I.D., a background check, and a gun safety test to buy a new gun.