How Stacey Abrams Changed Election Outcomes in Georgia

By Alayna Roper

“When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began.”

~ Stacey Abrams

Voter suppression is the act of suppressing votes from a certain demographic of people and has been a problem for many years. While some believe it to have faded away over the years this sadly is false. The tactics for suppression have just become less obvious. With the previous election taking place during a pandemic many who were voting through the mail were nervous that their vote would not be counted.

Democrat Stacey Abrams is a Georgian politician, voting rights activist, and lawyer. She is the first woman to lead a party in the Georgia General Assembly as of 2010. Then, later in 2018 she ran in the Georgia gubernatorial election, but ultimately lost to Republican Brain Kemp by 50,000 votes. Her loss, which was speculated to be racially motivated voter suppression, was truly not a loss as for the next two years she dedicated herself to help suppressed peoples voices influencing Georgia's flip from a red state to blue, which had not happened since 1992. Not only did she flip the party majority in the presidential election but also in the senator and house runoff. 

Creating an organization called Fair Fight Abrams was able to encourage many to register to vote and let their voices be heard. Saying on their website: “We promote fair elections in Georgia and around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights. Fair Fight brings awareness to the public on election reform, advocates for election reform at all levels, and engages in other voter education programs and communications.” Her organization helped people register to vote, request a mail in ballot, ultimately adding 800,000 voters to the election who would have never had the chance to vote beforehand. 

Her and her team's efforts have built the path for other traditionally red-states that have a growing democratic population to help those who usually would not have their voices heard be heard. This is not only a big step for the state of Georgia, but for the rest of the country in the fight against voter suppression. 

“We are strongest when we see the most vulnerable in our society, bear witness to their struggles, and then work to create systems to make it better”

~ Stacey Abrams

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Sources:

https://fairfight.com/about-fair-fight/

https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/ballotboxbarriers/analysis-voter-suppression-never-went-away-tactics-changed/

https://staceyabrams.com