Two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said the Save America Act could make it harder for several groups to participate in close elections, which she argued could benefit Republicans.
Abrams stated on MS NOW:
Oppression is very real. In elections that are decided on the margins, voter suppression comes together, whether it’s ending mail in voting using citizenship proof, although every citizen has to prove your citizenship to get on the rolls. These more restrictive policies all come together to make it harder for average people to be heard, if you’re a senior, if you’re rural, if you’re disabled, if you’re a student, if you’re a person of color, those are five populations that, when these bills and these rules and these executive orders come to fruition, shave enough points off of elections that Republican authoritarians can gain the outcome.
Abrams’s remarks come as Republicans continue to push the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, mandate voter identification, end universal mail-in ballots except in cases of disability, illness, travel, or military service, and also codify protections for women’s sports and a ban on transgender surgeries for children.
President Donald Trump on March 26 called on Senate Republicans to terminate the filibuster in order to pass Department of Homeland Security funding and the SAVE America Act. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Republicans should “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER” and pass “all five items” in the SAVE America Act, saying Democrats would eliminate the filibuster if they regained power.
The former Georgia House minority leader lost gubernatorial races in 2018 and 2022 to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. After her 2022 defeat, Abrams’s campaign came under criticism after raising more than $100 million and finishing more than $1 million in debt.
During a November 2024 appearance on CNN, Abrams claimed Georgia’s record-setting early voting numbers did not mean voter suppression was absent.
“Turnout does not mean there is not voter suppression activity,” Abrams said. “A lot of those voters in 2020 were able to vote by mail. One of the reasons we’re seeing early lines is because they can no longer use the easier method of voting by mail because of SB 202, because of SB 189 laws that Brad Raffensperger and Brian Kemp supported and pushed forward.”
Abrams added, “People who are disabled, people who have lost their homes are facing harder times casting their ballots, but they refuse to be silenced.” She added that voters were “standing in lines they shouldn’t have to stand in because they believe their voices matter.”
Read the full article here