Kristin Nabers: We must protect the right to vote in Georgia – or risk serious consequences

By Kristin Nabers
Election-denying conspiracy theorists in Georgia are using a number of alarming tactics to deny voters their rights. For the past few years, lawmakers in the Peach State have been introducing and passing legislation that creates more barriers to the ballot box and sows distrust in our election system. With all eyes on Georgia this election year, how we respond during this inflection point will have national consequences.
Recently, Georgia’s State Election Board passed a set of anti-democratic and anti-voter measures that could lead to the further disenfranchisement of Georgia’s voters. The board continues to pass harmful, confusing, and potentially unlawful rules at a breakneck pace – even passing some rules that, before the appointment of these new members, were rejected because they exceeded the board’s authority or conflicted with state laws.
Whatever the election board’s intentions may be, their actions are opening the door for renegades to be better positioned to hijack our election process with impunity.
The board, which previously functioned in a fairly nonpartisan way, is nearly unrecognizable today, given that the board has passed two recent rules that provide cover for local election officials who choose not to certify election results within the usual time window by conducting inquiries and demanding additional documentation. This proposed change dovetails with the increase of conspiracy theorists on local election boards, turning previously civic bodies into machines for potential election manipulation and chaos.
The seemingly arcane work of certifying elections, where the work of democracy lies, is becoming a blueprint for denying voters their voices in Georgia and beyond.
This comes at a time when Georgia continues to introduce restrictive voting laws that target Black and Brown communities – and primarily Black voters who make up a third of the state’s electorate. Conspiracy theorists have even gone so far as to say that voter suppression measures in Georgia serve as a “road map” for tilting the 2024 election in their favor.
Additionally, in an attempt to prevent people from accessing the ballot box in the first place, anti-voting extremists have been challenging the registrations of more than a hundred thousand Georgia voters ever since a 2021 law codified that any Georgia voter can file an unlimited number of challenges. Another law passed just this year allows challengers to use artificial intelligence to comb through online databases for any discrepancies or errors on which to base voter challenges. This law ignores the fact that these databases often contain incorrect or outdated info.
We cannot let this stand. What’s happening in Georgia can happen anywhere and has the power to prevent more Americans from making their voices heard. Thankfully, in the Peach State and beyond, there are still laws and court precedents in place that mandate the timely certification of election results.
At my organization, All Voting is Local, we encourage Georgians to take an active role in fighting back against the actions of the state election board by attending meetings and volunteering to make public comments. We continue to monitor these attacks on our democracy and keep voters informed. And we believe that together, we can make sure that voters’ rights are not being trampled upon by dangerous and unjust rules.
Voters and advocates can and must stand together in our state and in every state across this nation to ensure that these attempts to delay democracy do not defeat it.
Kristin Nabers is the Georgia State Director for All Voting is Local. For more than twenty years, she has worked on advocacy and political campaigns, with a focus on amplifying the voices of everyday citizens.