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Georgia’s legacy of voter suppression is driving historic Black turnout | Politico

Georgia’s legacy of voter suppression is driving historic Black turnout | Politico

Voter Suppression, Voter Turn Out, African American Politics, Black Politics, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN, KINDR'D Magazine, KINDR'D, Willoughby Avenue, WRIIT, TRYB,

Changing demographics in the Atlanta suburbs and an explosion of civic engagement among first-time voters could turn the state blue for the first time in decades.

MAYA KING, POLITICO

ATLANTA — Almost every Black Georgia voter queuing up at the polls has a story about 2018.

Most waited for hours in lines that wrapped around their voting locations. Some were removed from the voter rolls arbitrarily, forcing them to fill out confusing provisional ballots on Election Day. Others stayed home altogether and — after watching Democrat Stacey Abrams lose the gubernatorial race by fewer than 60,000 votes — regretted that decision.

Now, voter enthusiasm among all races is at an all-time high in one of the most consequential battleground states in the country. So is voter anxiety.

 

—  Credits


Featured Image, Voters wait in line to cast their ballot early Oct. 12 at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Ga. | Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP
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—  Related

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.

Initially, powers given to enforce the act were weak, but these were supplemented during later years. Congress asserted its authority to legislate under several different parts of the United States Constitution, principally its power to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8), its duty to guarantee all citizens equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment, and its duty to protect voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment.

The legislation had been proposed by President John F. Kennedy in June 1963, but it was opposed by filibuster in the Senate. After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the bill forward. The United States House of Representatives passed the bill on February 10, 1964, and after a 54-day filibuster, it passed the United States Senate on June 19, 1964. The final vote was 290–130 in the House of Representatives and 73–27 in the Senate. After the House agreed to a subsequent Senate amendment, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Johnson at the White House on July 2, 1964.

Source – Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Updated: 25 October 2020) Wikipedia. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964, (Accessed: 26 October 2020)

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