A new poll found that roughly 52% of registered black voters in Georgia have confidence they will have a fair opportunity to vote in 2022 amid claims from Democrats that Republicans are trying to undermine democracy in the state.
More than 90% of registered black voters in Georgia said it was easy to vote in 2020, but several top Democrats have since accused Georgia and other Republican-led states of enacting voter suppression policies last year that target minority voters.
DEMOCRATS’ ATTEMPT TO MAKE IT ALL ABOUT ‘VOTING RIGHTS’ DIDN’T CONVINCE ANYONE
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,702 registered voters of all races from Jan. 19-24 and had a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points. A total of 323 registered black voters participated in the survey, Quinnipiac Associate Director April Radocchio told the Washington Examiner. Of that group, 18% were very confident, and 34% were somewhat confident that all Georgia citizens would have a fair opportunity to vote in the elections this year.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina referred to a voting law in Georgia passed last year as the “new Jim Crow.” The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law, which implemented a string of reforms, including a voter ID requirement for absentee ballots, authorizing drop boxes, and restricting the distribution of water within 150 feet of polling locations. It was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who said the bill was meant to rebuild trust in Georgia’s elections and make it harder to cheat.
The reforms were approved in response to temporary changes to the state’s voting system in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. For example, the state’s election board temporarily approved the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots during 2020. The voting law passed last year authorized the use of drop boxes but cut the number of authorized boxes down from the pandemic level.
Georgia’s voting law came amid complaints from former President Donald Trump and his allies who cast doubt on the 2020 election and claimed that “massive voter fraud” took place in Georgia and other states despite election officials and the courts roundly rejecting such claims.
Other state legislatures controlled by Republicans passed similar voting reform laws amid Trump’s criticism. This led to accusations from Democrats that Republicans were attempting to suppress voter turnout in key states in order to win elections. As a result, national voting reform has become a priority for Democrats, though a recent attempt to pass such legislation failed in the Senate last week due to a Republican filibuster.
Democrats have been accusing Republicans of voter suppression for years. Following her defeat in Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election, Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams argued that the “rules of the game” were rigged for the state’s voters. She said Kemp, who served as Georgia’s secretary of state during the race, improperly purged voter rolls — something experts say would likely not have prevented voters with an ID from voting, USA Today reported. Federal data released last year indicated that about 95% of Georgia’s citizens over 18 were registered to vote.
Georgia remained under Republican control following the 2018 election. In the recent Quinnipiac poll, 72% of registered black voters said it was very easy to vote in the 2020 election, and 19% said it was somewhat easy. Only 5% found it somewhat difficult, and 2% found it very difficult.
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The Quinnipiac poll also found a tight race between Kemp and Abrams, who is again challenging Kemp for the seat. Kemp led Abrams 49% to 47% among all registered voters polled. The election will take place in November. Kemp is also facing a tough primary election challenge, particularly from former Sen. David Perdue, who is endorsed by Trump.
A majority of all registered voters in Georgia surveyed in the Quinnipiac poll were very confident, 25%, or somewhat confident, 37%, that votes in Georgia will be counted accurately in 2022. Of those surveyed, 21% were not so confident, and 15% were not confident at all.
