In recent weeks, dozens of bills have been filed in both houses of the Georgia General Assembly by the majority party, each bill designed and intended to make registering to vote and/or casting a vote in Georgia more difficult. These blatant and unashamed attacks on Georgia voters and democracy in our state are payback for the terrible crime committed by Georgia voters in the most recent elections: Georgians selected the Democratic candidates for president and vice president and to fill both U.S. Senate seats. The means chosen to limit voting range from relatively sophisticated and targeted, the abolition of no-excuse needed absentee (mail in) ballots, to simply mean-spirited and childish, prohibiting providing food and drink to Georgia voters standing long hours in line to vote. The crown jewels and lollapaloozas of this assault on democracy are HB-531, at last report 48 pages long and encyclopedic in the variety of attacks on voting and voters, and SB-241, with, at last count, 18 individual measures to make it harder to vote. Students of such matters are positing that, if these measures are enacted, Georgia will become the acknowledged national champion of voter suppression in the United States. This coveted status is sure to draw admiring national attention to our beloved state. We will be the envy of our neighbors. “Oxymoron” is defined as: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (such as cruel kindness). The House Committee, dominated by the majority party which has supported HB-531, is, get this, the “ Election Integrity Committee”. The Senate Committee, also dominated by the majority party which supports SB-241, is, even more incredibly, the “Senate Ethics Committee”. Surely, these are the saddest two oxymorons in the state of Georgia. Bruce Menke
Athens
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