Gwinnett Leaders Raise Alarm on Baseless Voter Challenges Enabled By SB 202

This morning, Gwinnett County leaders held a press conference to raise alarm around the baseless, disruptive challenges to Georgians’ eligibility to vote in the upcoming elections, which were dismissed last night after careful review by the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections. The voter registration challenges — filed in the state’s most diverse county — were enabled by Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger’s SB 202 and seek to obstruct and interfere with voters’ ability to make their voices heard in Georgia’s 2022 election.

Click here to watch and download high-resolution photos and footage of the speakers’ full remarks.

“Why are we seeing these challenges? It’s simple — elected officials like Brad Raffensperger paved the way with SB 202 for Trump-backed groups to file them. The goal of these bad actors is clear — to intimidate and confuse voters, and ultimately to disrupt our democratic process. At least 400 bills just like this were introduced across 48 states after the 2020 election — this isn’t a coincidence, it’s a pattern. This is an organized, concerted effort led by extremist Republicans with the goal to damage our democracy. Brad Raffensperger is a wolf in sheep’s clothing — he’s part of this effort, but wants to maintain the facade that he stood up against Donald Trump. But the truth is, he still wants Trump’s support and is doing his bidding. Trump’s goal is to sow doubt in our elections, and Raffensperger’s SB 202 is advancing that goal,” stressed State Representative Bee Nguyen, Democratic nominee for Secretary of State.

“Not only have Kemp and Raffensperger signed and supported legislation to make it harder to vote in Georgia, particularly voting by mail, but these mass voter challenges are a reminder that both their actions continue to pose an ongoing threat to our elections. Let’s be clear — by pushing SB 202, which was inspired by Donald Trump’s Big Lie, Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger have shown where they stand. And they’re not standing up to Trump, they’re standing with him. They’re enabling and empowering bad actors to attack the very thread of our democracy, our freedom to vote,” said State Representative Sam Park.

“These voter eligibility challenges are completely baseless, and they lack any probable cause — and it’s because they’re driven by Trump’s Big Lie conspiracy theory. And sadly, it’s no shock that we’re seeing these massive voter challenges here in the most diverse county in Georgia. Governor Brian Kemp, who pushed SB 202 with all the power of his office and signed it into law, has expressed his frustration before about Democrats’ efforts — and I’m quoting here — ‘registering all these minority voters.’ Trump-connected activists, driven by lies and conspiracy theories, are working to toss out tens of thousands of registered voters in battleground states all across our country,” asserted Commissioner Kirkland Carden.

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