The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) issued a correction on a story that made some false claims about Georgia’s election law reform legislation. The newspaper made the mistake of printing Democrat talking points, specifically remarks made by President Biden, instead of the truth. AJC originally falsely reported that voting hours had been cut in the bill and failed to note that early voting days had been added for general elections while shortening the time for early voting in primary run-offs.
The newspaper printed the correction at the end of a story on liberal filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry. Perry owns a large production company in the Atlanta area.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said the new law would limit voting hours. On Election Day in Georgia, polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and if you are in line by 7 p.m., you are allowed to cast your ballot. Nothing in the new law changes those rules.
However, the law made some changes to early voting. The bill adds a second mandatory Saturday of early voting for general elections but removes two weeks of early voting before runoffs.
Perry was quick to come out against the Georgia legislation signed into law by Governor Kemp. He voiced hope that the Department of Justice will look into “the unconstitutional law”.
The metro Atlanta movie studio owner and television producer revealed his grievances to the entertainment publication about the “unconstitutional” law, which requires a state-issued ID to request an absentee ballot and limits the number of drop boxes in the state.
“As a Georgia resident and business owner I’ve been here a few times with the anti-abortion bill and the LGBTQ discrimination bill,” Perry said in a statement. “They all sent a shockwave through Georgia and the nation but none of them managed to succeed.”
“As a Georgia resident and business owner I’ve been here a few times with the anti-abortion bill and the LGBTQ discrimination bill,” Perry said in a statement. “They all sent a shockwave through Georgia and the nation but none of them managed to succeed.”
There is irony in Perry’s criticism of the unwokeness of Georgia’s laws. For example, in Delaware, Biden’s state of residence, its election laws are not as generous as the new law in effect in Georgia. Perhaps Biden should tend to his own state before trying to federalize elections under the pretense that they are “Jim Crow” on steroids. Does anyone think Biden actually read the Georgia bill? Or Tyler Perry, for that matter? They are just doing their job as Democrats and dividing Americans with false racial discrimination claims. Biden continues to lie about the new law and even the Washington Post found his claims worthy of four Pinocchios. That hasn’t stopped the president, though, and he supports the MLB decision to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta in protest.
Biden repeatedly claimed a new law signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, would make it harder for working-class people to vote, but the Post’s Glenn Kessler wrote Biden’s claim couldn’t be substantiated.
“Not a single expert we consulted who has studied the law understood why Biden made this claim, as this was the section of law that expanded early voting for many Georgians,” Kessler wrote.
Biden then repeated the same false statement, after the Post awarded him Four Pinocchios, during an interview with ESPN on Wednesday.
“This is all about keeping working folks and ordinary folks that I grew up with from being able to vote,” Biden told ESPN when asked if Major League Baseball should move its 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest.
The same mistakes are surfacing in Texas now. The state legislature is working on election integrity reforms and early legislation in the state senate is causing opposition from American Airlines and other corporations in Texas. After American Airlines jumped into the political battle, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick noted that it was odd that just minutes before the CEO’s statement protesting the legislation, American Airlines government relations representative called his office and “admitted that neither he nor the American Airlines CEO had actually read the legislation.” Hmm. Imagine that.
STATEMENT: Texas Lt. Gov. @DanPatrick on @AmericanAir opposition to #SB7… pic.twitter.com/nMnKrtfMLD
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) April 2, 2021
It looks like Dell is following the same path. According to one lawmaker, Dell’s statement was issued before compelling public testimony was made.
Dell’s statement was written before listening to the public testimony today (which laid a compelling reason for why HB6 is necessary ) . . . I bet it was written by someone who hasn’t even bothered to read the bill. https://t.co/Ia3dCOXNea
— Dustin Burrows (@Burrows4TX) April 2, 2021
Other major corporations in Texas are weighing in.
Companies like Amazon, Southwest Airlines and AT&T panned the GOP measure, which would limit extended early voting hours, prohibit sending absentee voting applications to those who did not request them, and ban drive-thru voting — a method utilized during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It has been 56 years since the Voting Rights Act became law, yet efforts to disenfranchise Black people and other minorities continue to this day,” Amazon said in a statement Thursday. “The ability to vote is one of the most prized fundamental rights in our American democracy, and Amazon supports policies that protect and expand those rights.”
The hyperbole is just plain wrong. It also insults the employees that these corporate leaders say they are speaking up for – it is as though they assume their employees are too stupid to go vote as everyone else does. The Georgia law actually increases opportunities to vote. The Texas law is focusing on eliminating opportunities for voter fraud and making clear that the special circumstances allowed for voting during the pandemic are not permanent in election law. For example, drop boxes that had not been allowed in previous elections were during the 2020 election. Drop boxes will be allowed now but only in specific locations.
Beto O’Rourke is leading the outraged voices in the state. Of course he is – what else does he have to do these days? He said he’s not going to run for governor against Governor Greg Abbott in 2022. If he did, it would make him a three-time loser in political campaigns but don’t be surprised if he changes his mind. He also told reporters that he wouldn’t run for president in 2020, yet he did.
Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke called the move by conservative states a “coordinated attack.”
“The Texas Senate passed a voter suppression bill early this morning, targeting working Texans, communities of color,” O’Rourke said on Twitter Thursday.
“And when added to voter suppression bills in Georgia and 41 other states, [it] is part of the single largest coordinated attack on democracy in America since 1965,” he added. He claimed the GOP effort was a direct result of minority voter turnout that contributed to red seats flipping blue in November.
A “coordinated attack”, huh? That’s a good one. Republicans aren’t particularly united these days so a multi-state coordinated attack would be quite a feat to pull off. Individual states make election laws. Beto is working alongside other leftists who are trying to federalize elections in this country. Now that would be unconstitutional.