After the 2020 election, Raffensperger took credit in mainstream quarters for its orderly count and recount and for standing up to efforts to overturn it. As a nonpartisan election administrator, he could have been justifiably proud of the ease with which millions of Georgia voters used absentee ballots, drop boxes and long early-voting periods to break turnout records in both the general election and early January Senate runoffs, but instead Raffensperger helped author SB202, which sought to overhaul Georgia’s successful election process mostly because it produced winners for the wrong party.
Even though Sen. Warnock won, it’s not hysterics or election denialism to point out legitimate things that contributed to voter suppression which can be traced directly to Raffensperger’s election bill. Those include, but are not limited to:
- Voters, including many college students, not receiving absentee ballots in time or at all. In both the general election and general election runoff, Cobb County was forced by a court to extend the deadline for receipt of ballots after more than 1,000 voters didn’t receive theirs on time. SB202 shortened the window for when absentee ballots could be requested and mailed out, putting undue strain on large counties like Cobb and the mostly Democratic voters who are using absentee ballots these days.
- Long early vote lines in the runoff – SB 202 shortened the runoff window from 9 weeks to 4 weeks. Certainly 9 weeks is too long, but 4 weeks is too short, particularly in light of the unnecessary extra burdens of SB202. The long lines were made even worse by SB202, which criminalized handing out water or pizza to those waiting in those lines for no reason other than the perception and reality that early voting benefits Democrats. And for some reason, SB202 mandates that early in-person voters are required to complete the same paperwork as mail-in absentee voters; lines could be shortened considerably if all in-person voters – whether early or election day – are treated the same.
- Questionable legal interpretations like ruling that the Saturday after Thanksgiving couldn’t be used for early voting. When this was overturned, it ended up benefiting Democrats as their counties were motivated to open that day while mostly Republican counties stayed closed. Even though I’m a Democrat, I think democracy works better when everyone can participate, including Republicans. I’m against voter suppression no matter who it impacts.
Republicans have pointed to the high turnout in Georgia – particularly by voters of color – to rebut claims of voter suppression. As Raffensperger and the Republicans yet again tinker with election laws – proposing the third major overhaul since he took office in 2019 perhaps they will come to the realization that the more they make it harder for us to vote, the more motivated we are to turn out.
Yes, the turnout was high when record sums of money – tens of millions of dollars — were spent to get voters back to the polls, but what is going to happen in down-ballot races? Will the difficulties established by SB202 suppress those turnouts? We all know the answer.
We owe Raffensperger our appreciation for doing the right thing when it came to Trump. But he also owes Georgians elections where voter suppression is truly a thing of the past. That means owning up to failures like 2-hour lines and not just accusing everyone who disagrees with him of being an election denier.
Roy Barnes, a Democrat, is a former governor of Georgia.
