CONTACT INFORMATION
James Woo
404.585.8446 x 104
jwoo@advancingjustice-atlanta.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2021

ATLANTA, GA —  Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta and the Asian American Advocacy Fund collectively condemn the statements made by Georgia’s Secretary of State this morning emphasizing that “only American citizens should vote in our elections in Georgia.” Secretary Raffensperger’s call to the General Assembly to prioritize a constitutional amendment preventing noncitizens from voting is unnecessary and misleading, using immigrants as a scapegoat to create additional barriers to the ballot. It pushes the false narrative that noncitizens are actively trying to deceive our electoral system when, in reality, allegations of noncitizens attempting to vote in Georgia are extremely rare, and when these allegations do occur, there is already a system in place to pursue prosecution. The proposed constitutional amendment is also a preemptive attempt to prohibit any future changes in the law that could expand the right to vote to include noncitizens in local elections, such as a measure previously considered in Clarkston, Georgia, where more than half the residents are foreign-born.

“The right to vote is a sacred civil right that empowers naturalized citizens to participate in our democracy. Despite this right, Georgia continues to erect barriers to voting for citizens who are legally permitted to do so,” said LaVita Tuff, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta's Policy Director. “As the Secretary of State continues to offer solutions in search of a problem, we encourage him to solve the problems that have been made known to his office and members of the General Assembly.”

“While the Secretary of State is scapegoating the most vulnerable communities, he is distracting Georgians from the real issues. We encourage him to focus on increasing absentee ballot drop boxes across Georgia, increasing language access for voters, and increasing interpreters at polling stations. Overall, elections should be more accessible and that’s what the Secretary of State should be talking about,” said Vyanti Joseph, Asian American Advocacy Fund’s Organizing Director.

The lack of language access for limited English proficient voters and language access for immigrant communities during the redistricting process. Prior to the 2020 election, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta partnered with organizations from around the state and requested that Georgia’s elections be made more accessible for those who are limited English proficient. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta demanded that measures be taken to not further disenfranchise communities of color, especially Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and Latinx communities. Despite our request being ignored and numerous barriers, Georgia saw record turnout for AAPI and Latinx voters.

The Secretary of State's office is using valuable resources and time to address a nonexistent problem in Georgia instead of providing a plan to remove barriers for those who have a right to vote. Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Asian American Advocacy Fund encourage the Secretary of State to use the power of his office to make Georgia’s elections better for all of Georgia’s voters, not just a select few.