DPG Statement on Secretary of State Debate

After today’s Atlanta Press Club debate for Secretary of State, The Democratic Party of Georgia released the following statement: 

“In today’s debate, Bee Nguyen showed Georgians that we deserve more than the bare minimum from our elected officials. In exposing Brad Raffensperger’s support for an abortion ban with no exceptions and his extreme record of voter purges, enabling baseless voter challenges, and steadfast advocacy for Brian Kemp’s flagship voter suppression law SB 202, the debate made clear that only one candidate has our rights and best interests at heart – Bee Nguyen,” said Rebecca Galanti, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “As our next Secretary of State, Bee Nguyen will fight to protect our rights, push back on bogus claims of voter fraud, and expand access to the ballot for Georgians – not suppress it like Brad Raffensperger.” 

Background on Raffensperger’s extreme record:

While Bee Nguyen has led the charge to protect voting rights, Brad Raffensperger has thrown his full weight behind Georgia Republicans’ flagship voter suppression law, SB 202.

• Raffensperger’s bill eliminates ballot drop boxes, makes it harder to vote with an absentee ballot, criminalizes providing food or water to people waiting in long lines, and even gives the state the ability to take over local election boards to count votes if they don’t like the results.
• As recently as the 2020 election, Georgia voters waited up to 11 hours to cast their ballots, and data shows that voters of color are waiting the longest in line to vote. Then, Brad Raffensperger supported making it a crime for people to provide them with water while they wait.
• SB  202 allows mass challenges to the voter rolls and puts no limit on how many challenges a single person can instigate, and “effectively encouraged mass challenges of voter eligibility.” Since then, tens of thousands of Georgia voters have been challenged under Raffensperger’s law.

While Bee Nguyen supports the right to choose and will fight to defend reproductive rights, Raffensperger was one of the most right-wing members of the state legislature, and supports a total ban on abortion with no exceptions.

• Brad Raffensperger supports a total abortion ban with no exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother – a position out-of-step with the vast majority of Georgia voters.
• As a candidate for Secretary of State, Raffensperger has accepted endorsements from extreme anti-abortion groups and was among the most far right-wing members of the Georgia legislature, sponsoring and supporting dangerous anti-choice legislation.

In the debate, Brad Raffensperger continued his lack of transparency surrounding investigations into potential election interference in Coffee County. As Secretary of State, Bee Nguyen will work steadfastly to safeguard our free and fair elections by swiftly investigating any vulnerabilities in our system, holding bad actors accountable, and upholding free and fair elections.

• The Secretary of State has given the public three different answers as to what they knew when regarding potential interference by bad actors in Coffee County, and nobody has been held accountable over 21 months since the incident in question took place. 

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