If the Democrats published their playbook on how to influence people, the first chapter would be entitled “Lie and Play the Race Card,” and that is exactly what they are doing right now regarding the Georgia law that expands voting and makes their local elections more secure for every voter in the state regardless of color or socio-economic background.
Voters in Georgia should not fear this new law and Americans should embrace it. The law places commonsense reforms into practice that are supported by the majority of Americans and is already the law of the land in many states.
It is completely disingenuous and irresponsible for Black CEOs I have long respected to write a letter based on inaccurate information and baseless assumptions. There is no reason for Corporate America to allow themselves to be used by the Democrats to perpetuate a false narrative about the law in this sad season of cancel culture and fake wokeness. Corporate leaders learned nothing from the shakedown from the Black Lives Matter Organization who guilted millions of dollars from good hearted people and corporations to end up with no tangible results or impact long after the money was collected. Even the family of Michael Brown is trying to hold them accountable by asking where the money went.
Now, once again, CEOs are being shamed into believing the lie about this law to prove their allegiance to the woke Liberal mob and media in order to hold off the calls for their companies to be boycotted. At the end of the day, boycotting Georgia companies, venues, events and tourist attractions will have the negative impact on Black residents that this law never would. In the middle of a global pandemic these leaders feel the best course of action is to punish Black workers and entrepreneurs by calling for an unnecessary boycott in Georgia.
The people of Georgia should not be punished by an economic boycott any more than the people of Delaware, the home state of Joe Biden, where residents must show an I.D. in order to vote, there is no same day voter registration, no early voting and no ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting.
For some reason Joe Biden and the Democrats do not find those Delaware laws racist, a form of voter suppression or Jim Crow 2.0 for the hundreds of thousands of Black residents that live and work in the state. It is interesting that you have not seen calls to boycott the major companies headquartered there. They have not done that in Delaware or other states because they know the laws on the books similar to Georgia are not racist and serve the purpose of ensuring the integrity of the votes cast are protected.
We need to have clarity and facts, not divisive lies and fear mongering. The Georgia bill signed into law is a comprehensive election reform action that creates a more transparent, efficient, and effective election process. It does not reduce the number of total early voting days but actually expands the number of early voting days, including voting on weekends. If a larger precinct has a line more than an hour long it requires them to add voting machines and staff for the next election to reduce the wait times.
Like Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware, the bill calls for reasonable voter ID laws to protect the integrity of the voting process. If you do not have a driver’s license, that is okay, there are other options put in place when applying for and returning absentee ballots, such as providing the last four digits of your Social Security number or a copy of another acceptable form of identification.
Recent national polling indicates that 75% of voters support voter ID laws, including 60% of Democrats and 69% of Black voters. Another poll asked if voters would prioritize strengthening voting safeguards to prevent fraud, rather than eliminating safeguards to make voting easier and 51% of Black respondents agreed with that. Locally, an AJC poll showed 63% of Black Georgia voters, and 89% of those making under $25,000 per year supporting an ID requirement for absentee ballots.
There has been a lot of fake news about preventing food and water being served to voters standing in line. Anyone that says the law prevents voters from receiving food or water in line is not telling the truth. Official election workers certified to work at polling locations are authorized to distribute food and water to voters in line, but partisan activist electioneering is prohibited on election day. Additionally, they can set up self-service water stations for voters who might be standing outside for a long time to vote.
Prohibiting the practice of ballot harvesting is not racist, its right and it protects the security of the ballot by prohibiting anyone other than an immediate family member from being in possession of an elector’s ballot.
Ensuring absentee ballot drop boxes are designated prior to advance voting, properly surveilled by local officials, and locked and opened every day of advance voting for added safety and security is not racist it is the right thing to do.
Radical Democrats and a complicit media have played the race card in Georgia because they are afraid their national efforts to systemically change election laws to benefit the Democrat party and disenfranchise millions through bills like H.R. 1 and S. 1, will fail if they don’t lie, act fast and call election integrity measures racist.
Paris Dennard is the National Spokesperson and Director of Black Media Affairs for the Republican National Committee (RNC). Follow him on Twitter: @PARISDENNARD.