Advocates against Republican-backed efforts to overhaul Georgia’s voting laws are calling on Coca-Cola to oppose legislation proposals.
Measures such as imposing identification requirements for mail-in ballots, drop box rules, and mandatory weekend voting hours have become favorable across the state’s Republican majority in the General Assembly.
Leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the sixth Episcopal district of the AME Church, said Thursday they would call for a statewide boycott of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola company to oppose the recently proposed voting overhaul measures.
The Rev. Reginald Jackson said that if “Coca-Cola wants black and brown people to drink their product, then they must speak up when our rights, our lives, and our very democracy as we know it is under attack.”
‘IT’S A FIGHT WE NEED TO WIN’: BIDEN BRACES FOR GEORGIA VOTING RIGHTS BATTLE
Speaking at a “Souls to the Capitol” rally outside Georgia’s Capitol building Thursday, Jackson said he and others who oppose the measure “will speak with our wallets.”
Bishop Reginald Jackson announces a boycott of @CocaCola, which he said hasn’t come out strongly enough against proposed voting restrictions: “We’re not going to stand with folk who don’t stand with us.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/1mne4Y3r1z
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) March 25, 2021
A crowd of nearly 100 supporters of the boycott gathered for the event on Thursday.
Coca-Cola has come under mounting pressure by some activists to make a public stance against Republican-backed legislation seeking to restructure Georgia’s voting system.
Protesters held a die-in demonstration at the World of Coca-Cola on March 15 to raise concerns about voter suppression.
The company supports a “balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session,” it said in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The ultimate goal should be fair, secure elections where access to voting is broad-based and inclusive.”
Democrats in the state contend the proposals would make it difficult for Georgians to cast ballots. Republicans argue the proposed measures would restore confidence after claims of voter fraud by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
President Joe Biden has urged Georgia Democrats to oppose GOP-backed voting overhaul legislation, saying, “The battle for the right to vote is never, ever over. It’s not over here in this state of Georgia.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to Coca-Cola and AME Sixth Episcopal District but did not immediately receive a response.
