Georgia's legacy of voter suppression is driving historic Black turnout
Changing demographics in the Atlanta suburbs and an explosion of civic engagement among first-time voters could turn the state blue for the first time in decades.
ATLANTA — Almost every Black Georgia voter queuing up at the polls has a story about 2018.
Most waited for hours in lines that wrapped around their voting locations. Some were removed from the voter rolls arbitrarily, forcing them to fill out confusing provisional ballots on Election Day. Others stayed home altogether and — after watching Democrat Stacey Abrams lose the gubernatorial race by fewer than 60,000 votes — regretted that decision.
Now, voter enthusiasm among all races is at an all-time high in one of the most consequential battleground states in the country. So is voter anxiety.
In the shadows of billboards along I-85 and I-20 encouraging Atlantans to “VOTE EARLY,” barriers to that act loom large. There were reminders of this again during June’s
egregious primary election: In populous, rapidly diversifying metro Atlanta counties like Fulton and Cobb, wait times extended up to six hours after polling locations were consolidated during the pandemic. The state’s new electronic voting machines also frequently malfunctioned, further slowing the ballot casting process.
Voters interviewed by POLITICO said anger over perceived voter suppression tactics is fueling their eagerness to cast early ballots. And indeed, Georgians are voting in numbers never seen before in the state’s history. Since Oct. 12, the first day of early voting, a staggering 2.7 million voters have cast a ballot —
a nearly 110 percent increase from 2016. . . .
Troubles at the ballot box are propelling engagement, particularly among Black voters. An
analysis from ProPublica’s Electionland found that predominantly Black precincts in the state were more likely to have the longest wait times, despite a surge in voter registrations there.
At the same time, participation even among Democrats’ most loyal voting bloc has soared ahead of the general election. More than 737,000 African Americans have already voted in Georgia. Black voting is on track to eclipse its 2008 record, when
turnout increased by 8 percentage points among Black Georgians hyped to vote for Barack Obama.
“The thing is, this is the largest turnout, I think, statewide that I have ever seen,” said former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, noting a similar pattern nationwide. “And that's usually a very good sign. It's a good sign for democracy. Whoever they voted for.”
