ADVISORY: Coalition of Advocacy Groups Speak Out Against Georgia Voter Suppression

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Virtual Press Conference on Voting Access Rollbacks – Wednesday, March 10: 2pm-3pm ET

ATLANTA, GA - As Georgia lawmakers prepare to vote on a sweeping bill which would significantly restrict access to voting, national and local advocates for fair elections will hold a virtual press conference to discuss its harmful impact on different communities. The groups, representing legal, minority, community, and disability groups, strongly oppose several new restrictive proposals. In addition to restricting voting access in Georgia, speakers will touch on the concern that the trends identified in Georgia will expand nationally.

Georgia voters turned out in massive numbers twice in recent months, for both the November 2020 general election and the January 2021 runoff election. Rather than building off a record setting level of civic engagement, Georgia lawmakers are now seeking to roll back voter participation and make it harder for Georgians to vote. Proposed election changes in Georgia include:

  • eliminating no-excuse absentee voting
  • requiring first-time voters in Georgia to vote in person
  • requiring absentee voters to provide a photocopy of their photo ID
  • Language that could prohibit the use of ballot drop boxes
  • restricting county election officials’ ability to utilize mobile precincts to serve rural and other hard-to-reach voters
  • removing restrictions on poll watchers that keep election officials safe without facilitating additional transparency for voters

Members of the media should go to the following Zoom link to attend the call, which is on-the-record.

Speakers:

 

There will be a Q&A following speaker presentations.

Issues
Voting and Elections

Biden Executive Order to Improve Voting Access Shows Strong Commitment to Making Our Elections Fairer

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WASHINGTON – President Biden on Sunday issued an executive order to improve voting access, calling on federal agencies to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and participate in the electoral process. 

Also, for the first time, the executive order directs the Attorney General of the United States to establish procedures to provide for voter education, registration and voting in the Bureau of Prisons. Historically, the inability to share this kind of data with election administrators served as a key barrier to achieving equity with voting access. 

Statement by Trevor Potter, president of Campaign Legal Center, and a Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission: 

“This executive order – combined with White House support for the For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – shows a strong commitment by the Biden-Harris Administration to making our elections freer, fairer and more inclusive. By deploying the resources of the federal government to protect voting rights, America can streamline its voter registration process and improve on its record-setting voter participation in 2020. This executive order represents the kind of progress that serves as a fitting honor to the legacy of Congressman John Lewis on Bloody Sunday. Follow-through on this executive order will be key to ensuring the administration meets its laudable goal of allowing all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy. 

Issues
Voting and Elections

Gaspee Project v. Mederos

At a Glance

CLC assisted in the successful defense of a Rhode Island transparency law requiring groups that spend significant amounts of money to influence state elections to disclose their spending and certain contributors to voters.  

Status
Closed
Updated
Issues
Campaign Finance
About This Case/Action

In 2019, the Gaspee Project and Illinois Opportunity Project, two nonprofit advocacy organizations that wanted to spend thousands of dollars distributing election-related mailers to Rhode Island voters without identifying themselves or their large contributors to the public, initiated a First Amendment challenge to Rhode Island’s political transparency regime. They challenged three components of Rhode Island law, including requirements that: (1) groups spending $1,000 or more to influence elections — through campaign spending or political ads —disclose donors who gave at least $1,000 and did not expressly prohibit their donation from being used for election-related purposes; (2) groups working to influence Rhode Island elections include disclaimers on advertisements stating who paid for them; and (3) certain organizations making election-related expenditures disclose their top five donors during the previous year on electioneering ads.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC), along with Common Cause Rhode Island and the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, filed an amicus brief in defense of Rhode Island’s disclosure and disclaimer requirements in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which rejected the plaintiffs’ constitutional challenge in September 2021.

The plaintiffs sought review of that decision in the U.S. Supreme Court but only with respect to the top-five donor disclaimer provision. CLC served as co-counsel to the state defendants, along with the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. The Supreme Court ultimately denied the challengers’ petition, letting Rhode Island’s transparency measures stand. 

Plaintiffs

Gaspee Project

Defendant

Mederos

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