Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the private sector of “serious consequences” should it “become a vehicle for far-left mobs” amid a corporate push against newly passed election reforms in Georgia.
“We are witnessing a coordinated campaign by powerful and wealthy people to mislead and bully the American people,” McConnell said in a Monday statement. “The President has claimed repeatedly that state-level debates over voting procedures are worse than Jim Crow or ‘Jim Crow on steroids.’ Nobody actually believes this. Nobody really thinks this current dispute comes anywhere near the horrific racist brutality of segregation. But there’s an old cynical saying that ‘history is just the set of lies agreed upon.’ And a host of powerful people and institutions apparently think they stand to benefit from parroting this big lie.”
In recent weeks, liberal activists in Georgia have pushed large companies headquartered in the state, such as Delta and Coca-Cola, to speak out about the reforms, which they have done. President Joe Biden and Major League Baseball, which opted to move the 2021 All-Star game out of Atlanta, have also spoken out about the law.
MLB TO MOVE ALL-STAR GAME AND DRAFT OUT OF GEORGIA IN VOTING LAW PROTEST
Democratic lawmakers and activists such as Stacey Abrams claim the bill is a 21st-century version of Jim Crow laws that will make it more difficult for minorities to vote, whereas Republicans have argued that this bill will make it more difficult for people to commit fraud.
The bill will make numerous changes to the way elections work in the state, including the timing of runoff elections and the requirements for obtaining an absentee ballot. It would also give state officials the authority to take over local election boards and would make it a crime for anyone other than election workers to approach voters in line to give them food and water. The law also codified the use of drop boxes, which were approved as a coronavirus solution in 2020, and will now be placed in early-voting locations and can only be accessed during the business hours of the voting precinct.
Voting laws vary by state, and some, as McConnell points out, have fewer days of early voting than Georgia and require a reason for absentee voting, unlike the Peach State.
“It’s jaw-dropping to see powerful American institutions not just permit themselves to be bullied, but join in the bullying themselves,” the Senate minority leader said. “Wealthy corporations have no problem operating in New York, for example, which has fewer days of early voting than Georgia, requires excuses for absentee ballots, and restricts electioneering via refreshments. There is no consistent or factual standard being applied here. It’s just a fake narrative gaining speed by its own momentum.”
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Election reform has become a dominant issue in legislatures across the country, including in Congress. Both parties are calling for election changes, albeit very different ones.
Republicans have adopted the mantra: “Make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” which means strengthening voter identification laws and promoting in-person day-of voting. Democrats argue the GOP is trying to fix a nonexistent problem, given the low number of documented cases of fraud.
In their own push for election changes, Democrats have often called for automatic voter registration, and they want to limit voter ID requirements. They argue that their conservative counterparts are trying to stifle turnout by making it more difficult and confusing for voters.
