Georgia GOP secretary of state dismisses Abrams’ concerns over election accessibility
By Devan Cole, CNN
Georgia’s top election official on Wednesday dismissed Stacey Abrams’ concerns over election accessibility there, blasting the state’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s criticism of new voting rules as “silly.”
“Her argument — it’s silly. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not logical. You’re having record turnout,” Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning.”
“We now have photo ID for all forms of voting. We’ve instituted photo ID,” he continued. “And that really helps you identify with, you know, enhanced security and confidence in the process. And so we’re seeing that people really feel that we have safe, secure and honest elections. And look at the numbers. We’re having record turnout for early voting. People are seeing that the lines are move quickly. We’re not seeing any major issues in any area.”
Next week will see the first major election held in Georgia since the enactment of the new voting law that was passed last year. The law prompted an outcry from political, civil rights and corporate leaders, including Abrams, whose criticism of its new rules has remained steady even as turnout in this year’s primaries and midterms in Georgia stayed strong despite the new restrictions.
During Abrams’ final gubernatorial debate with Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Sunday, she called the law, SB 202, an “abomination” that “has allowed racists, White supremacists to challenge the legal authority of citizens to vote.”
In response to news of record early voting turnout, Abrams argued that “the fact that people are voting is in spite of SB 202, not because of it.” Kemp, meanwhile, accused Abrams of trying to “manipulate and scare people at home” and defended the state as a place where it’s “easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
SB 202 includes a shorter window for voters to request mail-in ballots, new voter identification requirements and a cap on drop boxes during early voting — which critics said was designed to suppress minority turnout following Democrats’ sweep of the presidential and US Senate elections.
Raffensperger is also on the ballot this year. He is being challenged by state Rep. Bee Nguyen, a Democrat, and Libertarian Ted Metz, who ran for governor four years ago.
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CNN’s Gregory Krieg contributed to this report.
