Asian American legal advocates file suit vs. Georgia's voting law

Asian Americans were made their votes count in the 2020 and 2021 elections in Georgia.

It is fairly obvious that Georgia Republicans are afraid of losing it's dominance and influence in the Peach state. Hence, the new voting law passed which critics say makes it harder to vote.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, Advancing Justice -AAJC and Advancing Justice -Asian Law Caucus, along with pro bono counsel, Keker, Van Nest, & Peters, filed a lawsuit to ensure that Asian American voters in Georgia will have the freedom to vote equally in elections.

“Asian Americans turned out in record numbers, alongside other communities of color, in a safe and fair election in both the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 runoff elections in Georgia,” said Phi Nguyen, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta’s Litigation Director. “We won’t let them shut the door on us after all our efforts to enliven our democracy."

The civil rights groups charge that SB 202, Georgia’s sweeping anti-voting bill, erects unconstitutional barriers intended to silence Asian American voters. SB 202 shortens the window to apply for mail-in ballots; restricts access to secure drop boxes; forces voters to satisfy onerous, unnecessary ID requirements before voting by mail; and prohibits elections officials from proactively mailing ballot applications to registered voters.

The lawsuit, filed by AAAJ-Atlanta, is the fourth court challenge to the voting law since Gov. Brian Kemp signed it on March 24.

The three other pending lawsuits contesting Georgia’s voting law were filed by the NAACP, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the New Georgia Project and several other organizations.

Georgia's new voting law is part of a national strategy of the GOP to make voting more difficult, primarily because Republicans believe they have a better chance at winning  when voting turnout is low.

Republicans, masters of wordsmithing, describe their efforts as ensuring the security of the vote against voter fraud, something that is almost nonexistent in the U.S.; or at the very most, barely negligible. There is no other way to describe this effort other than anti-democratic, at best; or at worst, voter suppression. Critics have called it Jim Crow reborn, referring to that period in the U.S. history in the 1950s-1960s prior to the 1965  Voting Rights Act, when southern lawmakers put in place laws that prevented Black voters from casting their ballots.

"The majority of Asian Americans in Georgia voted by mail during the 2020 general elections, and the politicians who drafted this bill intentionally targeted our community’s preferred voting method," said Nguyen. "These deliberate barriers will disproportionately harm Asian American voters, many of whom already face barriers due to limited English proficiency and dearth of translated voting materials. We should be making it easier, not harder, to vote.”

Asian American voters came voted in record numbers in 2020 and 2021 and helped turn the traditional Republican stronghold into a purple state, giving the state's electoral votes to Democrat Joe Biden and voting in two Democratic U.S. Senators.

“This bill is not only an attack on Asian Americans,” said Stephanie Cho, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta’s Executive Director, “it’s an attack on all Americans who cherish democracy and freedom. 

Republican lawmakers changed voting rules after Democrats won 2020 and 2021 statewide races thanks to strong turnout among Black voters.

"The bill drafters aimed for communities of color, but every community will have restricted access to voting and democratic participation will be diminished across all of Georgia. This bill attempts to undo the work of grassroots organizers, advocates, and voters who turned out in record numbers to make their voices heard. 

"This reactionary, racist, and backwards bill is a stain on Georgia, the beating heart of the Civil Rights movement. We won’t go back - we will fight them in the courts to make sure all voices are heard,” Cho added.

“The Asian American community will not be silenced. Not by the wave of anti-Asian violence that threatens the safety and security of our friends and family; and not by SB 202, which seeks to restrict our constitutional right to vote,” said Candice Mai Khanh Nguyen of Keker, Van Nest, & Peters.

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