Democrats Recruit Voter Protection Volunteers for General Election

ATLANTA – Yesterday, on the 11^th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision that unraveled the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Democratic Party of Georgia recruited dozens of new volunteers to add capacity to the general election Voter Protection program. The DPG’s Voter Protection Hotline (888-730-5816) has been continuously active since 2018; in the 2022 election cycle, it fielded more than 20,000 calls with the help of over 400 trained volunteers.

The DPG’s voter protection efforts are a clear contrast to Georgia Republicans, who after passing S.B. 202, have again doubled down on making it easier to remove voters from rolls with Governor Kemp’s signing of S.B. 189 that goes into effect on July 1.

Voter Protection Director Cecilia Ugarte Baldwin speaks to voter protection volunteers. 

“Republicans know they can’t win elections if everyone votes, which is why they continue to obstruct access to the ballot box,” said Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Georgia. “While Republicans engage in voter suppression, Georgia Democrats are strengthening our voter protection operation to ensure that every eligible Georgia voter can cast a ballot and have it counted.”

Earlier this week in Fulton County, new Board of Elections member Julie Adams abstained from voting to certify the low-turnout June 18 runoff election that comprised only two races in Fulton County: one for state senate and one for county commissioner.

Adams, who can be seen reviewing documents in the first two hours of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections Special Meeting held on Monday, June 24, accidentally voted against certifying the election before ultimately abstaining from doing so, because she didn’t “feel like we’ve had enough time to look at all the information.” Adams’ vote and explanation can be seen at the 2:22:45 mark of the meeting.

Whether or not Adams continues to be employed as a “regional coordinator” by the so-called Elections Integrity Network, led by former Trump attorney and chief election denier Cleta Mitchell, continues to be an open question as she hasn’t responded to inquiries from multiple news outlets.

OpenSecrets, an independent watchdog group, described Mitchell as “a former Trump advisor who worked to challenge 2020 election results and was a longtime lawyer for several conservative dark money groups…[who] currently serves on the board of advisors for the Election Assistance Commission and recently faced criticism over comments at a Republican National Committee donor retreat, where she reportedly called for curtailing voting on college campuses, same-day voter registration and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters.”

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