National voting rights organization urges Congress to counter Georgia GOP election reform efforts
ATLANTA - Just months after Georgians cast their ballots in record number, voting rights advocates claim the outcome of the 2020 election fueled GOP lawmakers efforts nationwide to introduce sweeping election reform legislation.
Stacey Abrams, who is founder of the national voting rights organization Fair Fight Action, told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes, " We are a republic that uses the right to vote, the democratic process to elect our leaders. When you restrict access to that process, you are restricting the citizens of our nation from participating in the future of our country. That is unfathomable to me."
What critics of Georgia's election reform legislation are saying
Abrams criticized "anti-voting" legislation introduced by GOP legislators. She said Republican lawmakers didn't like the outcome of last year's election and are now seeking to restrict access to the right to vote.
"Restrictions being put into place on absentee balloting are intended to target voters of color who used it in disproportionate number compared to previous elections, but 450-thousand Republicans also used that same mechanism and so with every single result that they seek, while they may be targetting communities of color and young people, they are going to capture their own voters and that means it is bad for democracy at large," said Abrams.
What supporters have to say about Georgia's sweeping election reform legislation
Supporters of the legislation have continuously denied this is an effort to restrict voting for Georgians. They say their efforts are designed to renew voters' confidence in the election system.
Abrams insists every eligible voter who seeks to cast a ballot should have the ability to do so, and is urging Congress to pass HR1/ S1 "The For the People Act" . If approved the sweeping legislation would, in part, bar states from restricting the ability to vote by mail and require states to automatically register eligible voters.
"Those are things that would not change depending on which state you live in," said Abrams. "States could make it even more liberal, and more easy to access the right to vote, but they should not be allowed to make it harder."
WATCH: FOX 5 Atlanta live news coverage
_____
Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts
Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.