Abrams Takes Voter Enfranchisement Fight National

Former Georgia House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams is taking the push for fair elections and voter enfranchisement national. Last week, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and founder of Fair Fight announced a national voter protection initiative called Fair Fight 2020.

Fair Fight 2020, a new initiative that will staff, fund, and train voter protection operations in 20 states in 2019 to combat voter suppression and prepare for the 2020 general election, launched Saturday. Through early investment in 20 battleground states, Abrams’ national effort will implement robust voter protection programs ensuring that all eligible citizens have access to free and fair elections.

Abrams’ and Fair Fight officials believe that foreign interference and sophisticated voter suppression threatens the ability of U.S. voters to freely elect leaders. As a response, Fair Fight 2020 is building voter protection teams with Democratic state parties or local allies across the country, varying as needed to comply with each state’s unique campaign finance laws.

Asked in an interview over the weekend if she “believes elections are essentially rigged,” Abrams clarified her stance and the impetus for this undertaking.

“What I mean by rigged is this, we have a right to vote in the United states that is afforded to eligible American citizens but we have seen over the last 20 yea constriction on who has the right to use that right,” Abrams said in an ABC News interview. “We have seen it through voter id laws, you can’t get o the rolls and it you get on the rolls you can’t stay. You may not be able to cast your ballet because they close your precinct, or they changed the rules … that’s rigging the game.

“We have always struggled with voter suppression, but what’s happened in the last 20 years is that it’s gone underground. It’s no longer hoses and laws that say you cannot vote,””It is this insidious nature that says it’s race neutral; that we’re just putting these laws in place for everyone. But, we know that it has a disproportionate affect on the communities that have long been marginalized.”

This unprecedented, multi-million-dollar, program will start early to spend the next year ensuring that all eligible Americans can register, vote, and have their votes counted.

“With the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the scourge of voter suppression measures, and foreign election interference, protecting the right to vote is more important than ever,” the organization said in a press release.