Group celebrates the power of Black and brown voters who made their voices heard in record numbers in 2021, pledges to continue fighting to protect the freedom to vote
ATLANTA — Today, Fair Fight, the national voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams, released a statement celebrating the one-year anniversary of the historic elections of U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock and Ossoff’s runoff victories followed record-breaking voter turnout among Georgians—particularly young voters and voters of color—that secured not only a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, but cemented a Democratic trifecta in both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Fair Fight Organizing Director Hillary Holley issued the following statement:
“One year ago, Georgia voters from every corner of the state came together in record numbers to form a winning multi-racial, multi-generational coalition that catapulted voting rights champions Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock to the U.S. Senate. Black, brown and young progressive voters demonstrated their political power and refused to let the obstacles posed by voter suppression stand in their way. Now, Fair Fight is doubling down on our winning playbook to make further advances for the people of Georgia. This includes fighting for affordable and accessible health care, Medicaid expansion, Covid-19 recovery, fully funded public education, and a justice system that works for all. Underlying all of these efforts is our core mission of protecting our freedom to vote. As anti-voter Republican lawmakers continue to undermine our democracy, we will not stop working to ensure every eligible voter is able cast their ballot and have that ballot counted—and we will win again in 2022.”
The day following the groundbreaking shift in Georgia’s electorate, rioters fueled by election-related conspiracy theories stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to obfuscate the certification of the 2020 election. This egregious act was but a symptom of a broader illness: instead of making clear that violence has no place in our democracy and debunking false claims of election fraud, anti-voter Republican officials have kowtowed to those embracing conspiracy theories—including but not limited to the rioters who stormed the Capitol—to maintain their foothold on power.
Republicans in state legislatures across the country have brazenly worked to push through anti-voting legislation and appear poised to continue their attempts to take over local control of elections. This includes in Georgia, where anti-voting bill SB 202 was signed into law in 2021, and will continue to reverberate this year and beyond.
This backsliding of democracy demands immediate action from Congress to protect our freedom to vote. As Democrats in the Senate continue working tirelessly to negotiate a bill that meets the needs of American voters and safeguards our elections from sabotage, Fair Fight will continue to advocate for necessary changes and organize voters to reflect all our communities.
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