Georgia before the midterms: “We owe it to our ancestors”

Georgia’s tightened electoral laws make it difficult for many midterms, especially blacks, to vote. Activists are therefore encouraging pastors to mobilize their congregations to vote – with great success in the foreseeable future.

“Go vote!” calls Pastor Lewis E. Logan II from the podium into his microphone and raises a fist in the air in a combative manner. And again:

Brightly colored signs proclaiming the same proclamation lean in front of the altar at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. The atmosphere in the service is joyful, the choir singers are wearing large pink tulle flowers and, supported by the four-piece band, have already sung and danced exuberantly with the service visitors and praised God the Redeemer.

After church off to the polling station

The pastor’s sermon is the highlight of the Mass – and his message is clear. More than 1,000 ministers and pastors in Georgia have come together and written an open letter to their congregations: The toxic social climate in the United States is endangering democracy. The tightened electoral laws made it difficult for many, especially the black population, to vote.

“Souls to the polls” is therefore the name of a campaign – roughly translated as “souls to the urns” – in which the elders of the community are driven to the polling station after the service. And so several choir singers and the pastor himself get into their cars after the service and pick up the old, sick or handicapped people in the surrounding districts who could no longer get to the polling station on their own. It used to be a matter of course. Now they have to provide special proof of transport.

Choosing has become more difficult

Sheer harassment, say many civil rights activists, referring to Georgia’s new electoral law, technocratically titled SB202, which cuts the pre-election registration phase in half. The time window for postal voting has been reduced, as has the number of polling stations. The days on which you can vote in advance have been limited to weekends.

In the queues in front of the polling stations – and they can be quite long in Georgia – no water or fruit may be distributed to those waiting. It is now actually up to a year in prison. According to the critics, all measures to make the election unattractive and access more difficult.

Since there is no registration or ID requirement in the USA, you have to actively register yourself to vote in the state in which you live. In Georgia, you need an ID card, such as a driver’s license. Many financially weak people or migrants are overwhelmed by the registration regulations.

Black people in particular should be convinced

Blacks in the United States fought long and hard for their right to vote: in the 1789 constitution, the right to vote was reserved exclusively for white, Protestant men with landed property. From 1830 all white men were allowed to vote. And from 1870, blacks were also entitled to vote by law – theoretically: the right was repeatedly circumvented by decrees and restrictions in southern states such as Georgia.

Like now – history repeats itself, says Helen Butler, who works with her organization “The People’s Agenda” and a kind of election supervision to convince the black population in particular to vote. In her view, the targeted reduction in the number of voters through the introduction of many new rules in Georgia is intended to keep poor people and people with a migration background from going to the ballot box. Because they tend to vote for the Democrats.

Republicans lead in polls

Nevertheless, polls are currently putting the Republicans ahead – in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. There, Georgia is considered to tip the scales. Anyone who can assert themselves here ensures their party a wafer-thin majority. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock wants to defend his office. The Baptist pastor from Atlanta is the pastor of Martin Luther King’s famous church there.

For the Republicans, Herschel Walker is a popular former football star who now has almost as many scandals as sports trophies in his cupboard. For example, two women accuse Walker of forcing them to have an abortion after an affair – although he is now vocally opposed to abortions.

So far, almost 1.7 million of Georgia’s 7 million eligible voters have cast their votes – one in five. The campaign of the many human rights activists seems to be working. Observers expect a huge rush next weekend.

Because on the actual election date during the week – in the United States, voters traditionally vote on Tuesdays – most people have to work and don’t have time to vote. Especially not the blacks. But for them, in the homeland of Martin Luther King, it is a special obligation to cast their vote.