A voting rights group founded by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams partnered with Atlanta Public Schools to teach students that voter ID laws make it more difficult for people to vote.
The New Georgia Project worked with the school system to develop a high school class on democracy that criticized voter ID laws and restrictions on mail-in voting.
“Democracy Class Atlanta” was launched at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year for roughly 2,000 high school students in Atlanta Public Schools, according to documents obtained by the political action committee Greater Georgia.
The details of the class were obtained through a public records request by the PAC, which is led by former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who, along with former Sen. David Perdue, was defeated in a January 2021 runoff election that provided the Democratic Party with a tiebreaking majority in the Senate.
GEORGIA SCHOOL OFFICIAL BRAGGED ABOUT USING SCHOOL RECORDS TO SIGN UP NEW VOTERS
The class told students that following the 2020 election, “most states introduce[d] legislation aimed at restricting the freedom to vote, specifically limiting flexible voting options like early and absentee voting and vote-by-mail.”
The curriculum also promotes legislation, including the For the People Act and the John Lewis Rights Advancement Act – and even encourages students to “sign up with the New Georgia Project to help mobilize other young people.” pic.twitter.com/q4sCrxy0DJ
— Greater Georgia (@GreaterGeorgia) March 24, 2022
The class also claimed voter ID laws are “restrictive” and that convicted felons “who have paid their debt to society” should be permitted to vote, Fox News reported.
Atlanta Public Schools acknowledged in a statement that the class had been offered but claimed it was a “non-partisan, two-month, voluntary program to increase civic education, participation and leadership among Atlanta Public School students in 11th and 12th grade.”
“The program was designed to inspire students to take civic action by registering to vote, signing up to be poll workers or volunteers, or pledging to talk to three friends about voting,” the district said.
The class was also supported by AMB Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election and subsequent Senate runoff elections, Georgia was among a number of states that passed legislation aimed at solidifying election integrity.
The new Georgia law, enacted last year, drew widespread criticism from Democratic politicians and pundits, who claimed the statute’s requirement of universal voter ID and restrictions on mail-in voting were callbacks to segregation-era laws aimed at restricting minority populations from voting.
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Abrams, who is amid a second campaign for the state’s governorship after infamously refusing to concede to Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018, launched New Georgia Project in 2013 while serving as the minority leader for the Georgia House. Billionaire George Soros, who funds a wide range of liberal causes and candidates, was among the organization’s initial donors.
