Kappa Koffehouse Town Hall Forum on impact of Georgia Voting Law held Mar. 29 - Rockdale Newton Citizen

COVINGTON - On Tuesday, Mar. 29, citizens of the Rockdale and Newton community gathered at Eastside High School in Covington for the Kappa Koffeehouse Town Hall Forum Series presented by the Conyers-Covington Alumni Chapter (CCAC) of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. to hear Newton County Board of Elections representatives and other nonprofit panelists explain the impact of the Election Integrity Act of 2021.

Presentations and perspectives were shared by Cynthia Willingham, supervisor of elections for the Rockdale County Board of Elections & Voter Registration Office; Phil Johnson, chairman of the Newton County Board of Elections; and Hillary Holley, organizing director of Fair Fight Action. The audience included numerous county elected officials who were present to listen to and interact with those in attendance.

“Elections are the bedrock of our democracy, and it is important that we have as great of participation in the voting process as we can,” said Johnson. “2020 was an example of when we got enormous voter participation. In Newton County, we have now 85,000 registered voters and 22 precincts.”

The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant role in the 2020 elections participation and the creation of Georgia’s SB 202 (Election Integrity Act of 2021). That impact was identified in detail by Willingham.

“How did we actually get to SB 202?” Willingham asked. “With Covid in 2020, starting with the March Presidential Primary (which was postponed twice to June 9, 2020), because of the rise in Covid cases, our Secretary of State (Brad Raffensperger) on April 20, 2020 decided to send out 6.9 million absentee applications to our voters. They realized that it would be a health risk to have 6.9 million people coming in and voting early, in person with the rise in our Covid cases… so this was instrumental for us to protect our workers.

“For Rockdale County, typically we would issue no more than 2,000 (mail) ballots, however for June of 2020 we issued 14,000 mail ballots. Without grant funding (under the new law, counties no longer can receive private funding) many Rockdale voters would not have received their ballots. The private grant funds allowed us to bring in additional help to help us (Rockdale) to process those requests.”

The Election Integrity Act of 2021 was born in such an environment by Georgia Republican legislators and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp on March 25, 2021.

“The greatest impact (of the Election Integrity Act of 2021) on voters were the changes to the absentee ballot,” continued Johnson. “It reduced the number of days in which you can apply for an absentee ballot, eliminated the sending of an application to every registered voter in the state, eliminated ability of nonprofits to send out applications for absentee ballots… people are going to have to be more proactive earlier in the process.”

“We have to educate people on every single opportunity, every method of voting that is available,” added Holley. “People can’t start thinking of voting (and) when they are going to vote, the day before election day; you have to start thinking about it now. I think having community events like this, that highlight the voter education rather than the negative impacts, that’s how we keep people participating in this process.”

“As residents are preparing for the upcoming primary election season, it is important to address any outstanding voter concerns that may need clarity in understanding current voting and elections processes,” noted Dr. Robert Hughes, president of CCAC. “Tonight’s forum provides our community with direct access to professionals who are working to ensure fair and efficient voting experiences at the polls and beyond.”

CCAC Chairman of the Political and Civic Action Committee Minister J.B. Brockman closed the evening by inviting Rockdale and Newton citizens to the next Kappa Koffeehouse Town Hall scheduled for June 2022.

source: https://www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.com/news/kappa-koffehouse-town-hall-forum-on-impact-of-georgia-voting-law-held-mar-29/article_8e3ab6c0-b74c-11ec-8e3b-4b7ba8f7eef1.html

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