Are you tuning into the State of the Union address tonight?

President Biden will address a whole slate of urgent issues that Americans are facing — including the state of the economy, gun control, infrastructure, criminal justice reform, and so much more. But the fact is this: Our ability to make progress on any of these issues depends on making our voices heard at the ballot box. So, we’re taking this opportunity to lay out Fair Fight Action’s State of Voting Rights:

Here in Georgia, Governor Kemp’s law SB 202 made it harder to request an absentee ballot, severely limited access to drop boxes, restricted which provisional ballots will count, and imposed additional burdens on county election officials. And after Congress failed to pass monumental voting rights bills last year, anti-voter state lawmakers were emboldened to introduce even more severe and restrictive voter suppression bills ahead of the 2022 elections. Despite rampant voter suppression efforts, we defied the odds last election cycle — reaching high turnout levels and expanding access to the polls.

Now, just 37 days into this year, state lawmakers are eyeing the 2024 elections and have strategically introduced dozens of voter suppression bills in states across the country. We can expect that these attacks on our fundamental freedom to vote will ramp up in the coming year. While these attacks are inevitable, lawmakers are fighting back by introducing over 150 pro-voter bills just this year.

At Fair Fight Action, protecting free and fair elections is the heart of our organization. That means our team is hard at work all year long, educating voters on their rights and challenging barriers to the ballot box. When it comes to protecting our democracy, there’s no “off season.” We’re tracking and monitoring proposed legislation, educating the press about the nuanced dangers of voter suppression, and using every resource at our disposal to fight for voting rights. Despite setbacks from anti-voter lawmakers at the state and national levels, we’re more committed than ever to continuing to protect our sacred right to vote as we gear up for future elections. 

Our work is just as urgent now as it is in the heat of election seasons; we’re focused on laying the groundwork now for 2024, when Georgia will again be a key battleground state. During the current legislative session in Georgia and with every voter suppression attempt that we unfortunately expect to follow, we’re setting the stage for Georgia voters to freely and fairly exercise their right to vote next year. We couldn’t keep our efforts going strong without each and every activist (like you!) who’s fighting alongside us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Fair Fight Action Team