THAT’S 108 MORE THAN WAS TALLIED
JUST ONE MONTH EARLIER, A 43%
INCREASE.
I’M JOINED NOW BY ONE OF THE
WOMEN LEADING THE FIGHT AGAINST
SUCH LAW, STACEY ABRAMS, FOUNDER
OF FAIR FIGHT.
YOU KNOW, STACEY, IT IS
BREATHTAKING TO SEE THE BREADTH
AND NUMBER OF LAWS AND WAYS THAT
REPUBLICANS ARE THROWING BRICKS
IN FRONT OF VOTERS.
I WONDER IF WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT,
AS SOMEBODY WHO HAS BEEN A
POLITICIAN, WHO HAS BEEN AN
ELECTED OFFICIAL, IS THIS MORE
STRAIGHT-UP JUST SORT OF RACIST
ATTEMPTS TO RECONFIGURE THE
ELECTORATE OR IS IT MORE GEO TV?
PART OF ME THINKS THAT AT LEAST
SOME OF IT THE GEO TV, AN
ATTEMPT GOAT THEIR VOTERS TO
VOTE AT ALL BECAUSE THEIR VOTERS
NO LONGER BELIEVE IN THE SYSTEM
BECAUSE THEY DON’T ALWAYS GET
THEIR WAY?
>> I ACTUALLY THINK IT IS MORE
OF AN EXISTENTIAL PANIC AND
COWARDICE AND LAZINESS.
WEIGH THEY REALIZED IN THE LAST
ELECTION WAS A CONFLUENCE OF
POSSIBILITIES CAME INTO BEING.
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR THAT HAD
LARGELY NOT FULLY RECOGNIZED
THEIR POWER BECAME PART OF THE
ELECTORATE.
YOUNG PEOPLE, WHO HAD LARGELY
KEPT THEMSELVES AT A MORE
DIMINISHED CAPACITY,
PARTICIPATED IN ELECTIONS.
AND BECAUSE OF COVID, MORE
AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE
AMERICANS WHO ARE THE MOST
VULNERABLE AND DISADVANTAGED,
UNDERSTOOD THERE WERE
ALTERNATIVES FOR PARTICIPATING
IN ELECTIONS AND THEY DID SO.
RATHER THAN CONFRONT AND GRAPPLE
WITH WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A
MORE ENGAGED AND EXPANDED
ELECTORATE, THEY ARE INSTEAD
WORKING AS HARD AS THEY CAN TO
NOT ONLY THROW UP THE BRICKS BUT
ALSO TO, TO YOUR POINT, TO USE
THIS GEO TV STRATEGY TO CREATE A
NEW BOOGIE MAN FOR THEIR OWN --
YOU KNOW, FOR THEIR
CONSTITUENTS.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY’RE
EXPRESSING THEIR HOSTILITY
TOWARDS THOSE COMMUNITIES THAT
CHANGED THE OUTCOME IN 2020 AND
2021, AND THOSE ARE LARGELY
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.
SO RACIAL ANIMUS IS ABSOLUTELY A
PART OF IT.
BUT OVERALL IT IS AN EXISTENTIAL
CRISIS AND EXISTENTIAL PANIC
LEADING TO THE TACTIC THAT
WORKED WELL FOR SO MANY OTHER
PARTIES AND THAT’S VOTER
SUPPRESSION.
>> WHAT IS FASCINATING IS AS A
COUNTRY WE ARE TRYING TO
MODERNIZE EVERYTHING, RIGHT?
WE MADE IT EASIER TO WATCH
MOVIES, YOU CAN JUST GET
NETFLIX.
WE MAKE IT EASIER TO DO
EVERYTHING.
VOTING WAS GOING IN THAT
DIRECTION.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF YOUR
EXCHANGE IN THE HEARING, IT WAS
ALL FASCINATING WITH SENATOR
KENNEDY, WAS WHEN YOU SAID THEY
DID 15 YEARS OF VOTE-BY-MAIL AND
THOUGHT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG
WITH IT, IT IS CONVENIENT UNTIL
BLACK PEOPLE USED IT AND THEY
SAID, OH, WE GOT TO GET RID OF
IT.
LET ME SHOW YOU SOME POLLING.
AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERING ALL
CITIZENS TO VOTE, 61% OF PEOPLE
AGREE WITH THAT.
ALLOWING CONVICTED FELONS TO
VOTE AFTER SERVING THEIR
SENTENCE, 70%.
REQUIRING GOVERNMENT-ISSUED
PHOTO ID, 76% WANT THAT.
MAKING VOTING AVAILABLE FOR TWO
WEEKS.
THOSE THINGS ARE POPULAR WITH
MOST VOTERS.
THINGS THAT ARE NOT POPULAR,
ONLY A THIRD SUPPORT WANT THE
STATE TO TAKE OVER COUNTY
OFFICERS.
ONLY 30% SUPPORT A BAN GIVING
OUT FOOD.
72% BELIEVE THE LAWS ARE JUST
ABOUT TRUMP.
AT SOME POINT IS THERE A
DIMINISHING RETURN IN YOUR VIEW
TO WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE DOING,
WHERE THEY MAKE IT SO HARD EVEN
THEIR OWN VOTERS GET CONSTRICTED
FROM VOTING AND THEY START TO
LOSE AMONG INDEPENDENTS AND
OTHERS WHO SAY, YOU’VE GONE TOO
FAR?
>> I THINK THEY ARE REACHING
THAT INFLECTION POINT.
TODAY IN ARIZONA WE SAW THE
REJECTION OF SB-1485, WHICH HAD
THE EXACT PURPOSE OF ELIMINATING
THEIR PERMANENT EARLY VOTING
LIST.
IT WAS GOING TO
DISPROPORTIONATELY HARM
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, BUT
APPARENTLY THEY REALIZED THAT
THEIR VOTERS ARE ON THE LIST,
TOO, AND THEY RISK THE
LIKELIHOOD OF LOSING ACCESS TO
VOTERS.
BUT THE CHALLENGE I SEE AND THE
REASON FEDERAL LEGISLATION IS SO
NECESSARY IS THAT WE DON’T KNOW
WHAT THAT INFLECTION POINT IS IN
EVERY SINGLE STATE.
AS LONG AS STATES HAVE THE
ABILITY TO ENGAGE IN VOTER
SUPPRESSION, TO REACT TO
COMMUNITIES OF COLOR INCREASING
THEIR PARTICIPATION BY PUTTING
UP THESE BARRIERS, THEN WE ARE
ALL IN DANGER AND OUR DEMOCRACY
IS IN DANGER.
>> YOU KNOW, I THINK HYSTERIA IS
NOT TOO STRONG A WORD TO TALK
ABOUT THE WAY REPUBLICANS SEEM
TO FEEL, RIGHT, ABOUT
ELECTORATES OF COLOR WHO
DEMOGRAPHICALLY ARE JUST COMING.
YOU KNOW, 5 YEAR OLDS ARE
ALREADY IN A MAJORITY NON--WHITE
WORLD.
SO THERE IS HAYES TEAR YA’C SIDE
THERE’S NOT ENOUGH ALARM.
WE ARE STILL SEEING PEOPLE LIKE
KYRSTEN SINEMA, LIKE JOE MANCHIN
SAY THEY’RE NOT IN FAVOR OF
REMOVING THE FILIBUSTER TO PUT A
FEDERAL LAW IN PLACE THAT WOULD
STOP THIS.
I WONDER IF YOU THINK THAT
THERE’S NOT ENOUGH URGENCY ON
THE PRO-DEMOCRACY SIDE AT THIS
MOMENT.
>> WELL, I WILL SAY THAT SENATOR
SINEMA COSPONSORED S-1, WHICH IS
THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, AND
SENATOR MAN CHIN HAS SIGNALLED
HE IS INTERESTING IN AND
UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF
VOTING RIGHTS.
HE WAS SECRETARY OF STATE IN
WEST VIRGINIA.
HE WAS GOVERNOR IN WEST
VIRGINIA.
SO I THINK THAT THERE IS AN
UNDERSTANDING.
I THINK THAT THIS IS A BROADER
CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW TO MAKE
THIS URGENCY CONVERTED INTO
ACTION, BUT I DO THINK THAT
WHERE WE STAND TODAY IS A VAST
DIFFERENCE THAN WHERE WE WERE IN
2016, 2018, WHEN VOTER
SUPPRESSION WAS REALLY PICKING
UP STEAM AND WE WERE STILL
TRYING TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THEY
COULD USE THAT LANGUAGE OUT LOUD
AND CREATE CHANGE.
WHAT WE SAW HAPPEN IN GEORGIA IN
2020 AND AGAIN IN 2021 HAS,
INDEED, LED TO HYSTERIA FROM
REPUBLICANS.
BUT THE REACTION SHOULD NOT BE
TO HOLD ON TO POWER BY
DIMINISHING THE POWER OF
CITIZENSHIP.
IT SHOULD BE, LET US EVALUATE
OUR POLICIES AND DO OUR BEST TO
CONVINCE THESE VOTERS THAT THEY
CAN JOIN US.
VOTERS OF COLOR ARE JUST LIKE
ANY OTHER VOTER.
WE WILL PICK THE PEOPLE WHO WILL
REPRESENT US BEST AND DELIVER
FOR OUR NEEDS.
WHAT WE HAVE FAILED TO SEE FROM
REPUBLICANS IS A WILLINGNESS TO
CONFRONT THAT REALITY AND ADJUST
ACCORDINGLY.
SO INSTEAD WE ARE SEEING VOTER
SUPPRESSION, WHICH IS THE
COWARD’S TACTIC WHEN IT COMES TO
WINNING ELECTIONS.
>> I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT
GEORGIA SPECIFICALLY, BECAUSE
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FEEL
THAT REPUBLICANS -- I MEAN 306
BILLS, PART OF IT FEELS LIKE
THEY’RE TRYING TO EXHAUST THE
NONWHITE ELECTORATE, EXHAUST THE
LIBERAL WHITE ELECTORATE AND
SAY, WE’RE JUST GOING TO EXHAUST
YOU WITH THROWING SO MUCH AT
YOU.
HOW EXHAUSTED DO YOU FEEL
GEORGIA VOTERS ARE AT THIS
POINT?
THEY’VE ALREADY ESSENTIALLY
DELIVERED AN ELECTION, YOU KNOW,
TO JOE BIDEN, TWO SENATE SEATS,
AND NOW PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GO
BACK TO THEM AGAIN AND SAY, YOU
WANT TO KEEP WARNOCK IN THERE?
YOU HAVE TO GO BACK AGAIN.
YOU WANT TO GET RID OF MARGIE,
THE QANON LADY GREEN, YOU HAVE
TO GO BACK IN THERE AGAIN.
THERE’S SO MUCH ON GEORGIA’S
PLATE RIGHT NOW.
HOW MUCH EXHAUSTION DO YOU
THINK?
ALSO, THERE MIGHT BE A
GOVERNOR’S RACE WITH MAYBE YOU
IN IT, MY FRIEND.
HOW MUCH EXHAUSTION DO YOU THINK
HAS KICKED IN IN YOUR HOME
STATE?
>> I THINK THERE’S RESIGNATION.
THEY WERE -- VOTERS WERE
EXHAUSTED IN 2018 WHEN WE HAD
HOURS LONG LINES AND WHEN WE HAD
A SECRETARY OF STATE WHO WITH
IMPUNITY TOOK OVER -- YOU KNOW,
CONDUCT HIS OWN ELECTION FOR
GOVERNOR.
WE HAD EXHAUSTION IN 2020.
WE HAD EXHAUSTION IN 2021 AS WE
HAD TO FIGHT OVER AND OVER AGAIN
TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT VOTES WERE
CAST AND COUNTED, AFTER
EIGHT-HOUR LINES IN JUNE OF
2020.
BUT WHAT IS SO REMARKABLE ABOUT
GEORGIA’S ELECTORATE, ABOUT
VOTERS OF COLOR IN PARTICULAR,
IS THAT EXHAUSTION HAS BEEN MET
WITH SUCCESS AND VICTORY HAS A
WAY OF REINVIGORATING YOU AND
PREPARING YOU TO STAY IN THE
FIGHT.
>> AND WE’VE SEEN, YOU KNOW, THE
ASIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY SUFFER
THIS HORRIFIC ATTACK.
YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WE’VE SEEN
ONGOING POLICE BRUTALITY ISSUES.
THERE ARE STILL CASES THAT ARE
OPEN THERE.
THESE COMMUNITIES ARE FACING
THESE MULTIPLE STRESSORS, RIGHT?
I’M WONDERING HOW YOU THINK THAT
WINDS UP INTERSECRETARYINGTING A
LIKE YOU AND FROM FAIR FIGHTERS
ARE COMING BACK AND SAYING TO
GET INTO THE POLITICAL PROCESS?
>> ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
WAYS TO ENGAGE VOTERS, THERE’S
ABSOLUTELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF
REGISTRATION, BUT IT IS
CONNECTING THE DOTS.
IT IS MAKING CERTAIN AS WE SAW
WITH THESE HORRIFIC MURDERS THAT
IF WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT
PEOPLE IN POWER, THEN THEY WILL
NOT STOP MEN FROM MURDERING
WOMEN OF COLOR.
IF WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT
PEOPLE IN POWER, THEY WILL NOT
TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT OUR
ENVIRONMENT.
IF WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT
PEOPLE IN POWER, DISTRICT
ATTORNEYS WILL NOT CHARGE AND
POLICE OFFICERS WILL BE LEFT TO
IMMUNIZE THEMSELVES FROM
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEIR
ACTIONS.
WHAT WE ARE SEEING HAPPENING,
ESPECIALLY IN GEORGIA, IS THAT
PEOPLE ARE CONNECTING THE DOTS
BETWEEN, HERE IS WHY WE VOTE AND
HERE IS WHAT WE GET.
I FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS NOT
SIMPLY FOR THE ACT OF CASTING A
BALLOT, BUT FOR THE ACT OF BEING
ABLE TO CRAFT MY FUTURE, AND
THAT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF I’M
ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IN
OUR ELECTIONS.
THAT’S THE MESSAGE THAT WE CARRY
TO EVERY COMMUNITY OF COLOR, TO
EVERY DISABLED COMMUNITY, TO ALL
YOUNG PEOPLE, TO ANY VOTER WHO
SEEMS MARGINALIZED AND
DISADVANTAGED BECAUSE WE HAVE
PROVEN TO THEM IN 2020 AND 2021
THAT IF WE TRY IT, IF WE WORK
HARD ENOUGH, IT CAN WORK.
>> STACEY ABRAMS FROM THE HEROIC
STATE OF GEORGIA, WHO ALSO
HAPPENS TO BE A NOBEL PEACE
PRIZE NOMINEE, WHICH I WON’T
EMBARRASS YOU BY MAKING YOU TALK
ABOUT THAT.
>> THANK YOU.
>> BUT WE’RE GOING TO BE LOOKING