by Carlyle Cornell
Growing up in Atlanta, I was surrounded by politically engaged peers, teachers, and parents. Even before I was eligible to vote, I spent my free time advocating for voting rights. I called potential Georgia voters to let them know which polling location they needed to attend, worked to convince disheartened citizens that their voice mattered, and checked registrations to make sure all of the information was up to date. Outside of this work, I went to womens’ marches with my best friend and her dad, campaigned for the candidates who I wanted to see in office, and phone banked in preparation for the 2020 election. At seventeen years old, I fell just below the cutoff for voting eligibility.
In 2022, I finally had my chance! I was nineteen, just as politically engaged as before, and excited for my first semester at Penn. I wanted to see Stacey Abrams finally win the governorship on the high of “Blorgia” – what some journalists called Georgia flipping blue in the 2020 election for the first time since 1992. Two Democrats, Rep. Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, won senate seats that had been Republican for about 15 years, and our state elected President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris into office. I applied for an absentee ballot, but never heard anything back. I called my elections office and they told me they would get to it soon. They never did.
Voting is a right given to citizens of the United States who meet specific criteria. Despite the fact that this civic duty is written into the constitution, there have long been rules and regulations put into place that have prevented people from voting. In Georgia specifically, recent legislation has become increasingly harsh. In the wake of the 2020 election and a variety of government scandals – such as Trump’s call to the Georgia Secretary of State asking him to overturn election results – the Election Integrity Act of 2021 restricted absentee ballots, making it difficult for voters with disabilities and the elderly. According to the ACLU, these new Georgia laws “made it a felony for anyone other than a ‘caregiver’ or certain family members” to return absentee ballots. Furthermore, S.B. 202 criminalizes giving food or water to voters waiting in extremely long lines: “No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, too.” These regulations are modern-day voter suppression. In a time where our voices seem to count more than ever, it is disappointing to see lawmakers try to prevent Georgians from voting.
People in other states didn’t seem to know about the drama of the 2020 election in Georgia. Recently, this issue has only gotten worse; Senate Bill 189 now allows Georgia residents to challenge their neighbors’ voting eligibility with real consequences. If challenged, voters who are determined to reside at a “nonresidential” address could be removed from the rolls and declared ineligible to vote in the 2024 general election, despite the fact that it is not required that voters have a residential address in order to cast their ballots. S.B. 189 specifically targets those “who live in college dorms, nursing homes, shelters, and creates new barriers to voting for unhoused people.” This legislation is an attack on democracy.
I never got my mail-in ballot. It is clear that others did not get theirs. Georgia is suppressing votes, and only creating more legislation to do so – in 2022, Stacey Abrams lost the election and Governor Kemp stayed in office. Maybe my vote and the votes of others who were unable to exercise their constitutional right could have changed that. I am incredibly disappointed to see the barriers that Governor Kemp and the Georgia House and Senate representatives are putting into place. Preventing residents from exercising their constitutional right is unacceptable, especially when the government is targeting marginalized and minority groups in this manner. As the 2024 general election approaches, I am determined to vote in my home state.
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