Talk Radio – December 6, 2022: Today is the Georgia Senate Runoff Election Day: Everything You Need To Know

GUESTS

Quantrell Parham: 12:00 PM – 12:15 PM Eastern Time
Owner of Parham Protective Service

Dorcas “Dottie” Parham: 12:00 PM – 12:28 PM ET
Community Leader

Ashley Shannon: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
2022 TJC-certified Voting Rights Advocate and third-year law student at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where she is earning her J.D. with a focus in criminal law, civil rights and policy reform. Ashley serves as a Graduate Assistant for UIC Law’s Restorative Justice Project, a Student Senator for the UIC Academic Senate Committee, Chief of Staff for the Midwest Region of the National Black Law Students Association and Vice Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Civil Rights Committee.

Harry Richardson: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
2022 TJC-certified Voting Rights Advocate and attends Southern University Law Center and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, as a second-year law and first-year MBA student respectively. Before law school. Former journalist for CNN, MSNBC, and the Huffington Post.

Clarence Adarian Fambro: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM Eastern Time
TJC Fellow; Morehouse College Student for business, graduating in 2023; Entrepreneur 

Marcus Howard: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM Eastern Time
TJC Fellow; Program Manager; University of Minnesota—2015

Mollie Duffy: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
TJC Fellow; 2022 Civic Influencer and Civic Engagement Fellow for the Wilks Institute of Leadership and Service

Breon Clark: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
TJC Fellow

Markeanna Dionne: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
TJC Fellow; Student / Activist; Morgan State University / BCCC MAJOR : Poly-Sci GRADUATE : 2026

Edward Clark: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
TJC Fellow

Brittany Mack: 12:15 PM – 12:28 PM ET
TJC-trained Voting Rights Ambassador and Gen Z and Millennial Votes Matter Alumni

Ben Winkler: 12:30 PM – 12:57 PM Eastern Time
Chair, Democratic Party of Wisconsin

SHOW DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND

“The busiest week of early voting in Georgia history concluded with over 1.8 million ballots cast before election day in the U.S. Senate runoff…Voters 65 and older made up the greatest share of early in-person votes cast at the beginning of statewide voting. By the end of the week, voters between the ages of 45 and 64 cast the most ballots each day…After state courts upheld the ability for counties to open polling places the Saturday after Thanksgiving, over 70,000 people voted that day. Another 87,000 voters cast ballots last Sunday…The quick runoff left little time for voters to receive and return absentee ballots, which will be counted if they’re delivered to county election offices before polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The absentee ballot return deadline is Friday for military and overseas voters, as well as for Cobb County voters because of delays in mailing ballots to those who requested them by Nov. 26.

Over 136,000 absentee ballots have been returned to county election offices so far, and 82,000 ballots are still pending.”

Over 62% of early voters for the 2022 Georgia Runoff elections  are under 30, with significant African-American youth leadership. As of today,the  total turnout for the 1st day of early voting was 338,000 votes cast in one day. That’s 70,000 more votes than the previous record set in 2018. At the 1st weekend of early voting in Georgia, voters between the ages of 18 – 29 make up 13.3% of the total turnout so far, more than any other age group. 

All roads are leading to Georgia and it seems like everyone is on the Midnight Train or the first airplane! The Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) along with partners Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda; Hip Hop Caucus; Rainbow PUSH Coalition; AFL-CIO; the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); National Bar Association; and, the NAACP of Georgia are working to assist African American and other vulnerable voters during Georgia’s December 6th Runoff Election. Early voting for this election starts November 28th and ends on December 2nd, with the general election on December 6th. Indeed, at least 9 counties will be offering Souls to the Polls early voting Sunday, November 27th. Shockingly, despite the criticality of this election, to the future direction of the U.S. Senate, there remain millions of Georgians who are clueless that there is an election, that they are eligible to participate in the election, when the election is, and how to participate in this election. Many are also worried about voter fatigue. Since our last show, some racial data has become available to show that turnout for African-American voters during the 2022 Midterms, though robust for early voting, was still lower than the 2018 Midterms because of the impact of SB 202 on absentee balloting, especially for Black seniors. Our show will discuss the implications of how we best counter those obstacles during this runoff. Another factor is that the lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s banning of Saturday voting by the counties has been won. The Secretary of State is appealing that ruling. Igniting Change will talk about the implications of that victory and the continued voter suppression by the state of Georgia.

Every person in the United States can directly assist in ensuring that Georgia’s voters are aware of and educated about the upcoming Senate runoff race.

TJC is actively on-the-ground in Georgia, joined by staff, Board members, and several Gen Z and Millennial fellows, with one team operating out of Atlanta and the other team operating out of Savannah. In the 5 days that TJC has been on the ground, they have been to numerous counties, have sent out over 1 million text messages, been to several polling sites, held a major press conference and Teletown Halls, provided rides to the polls, and have been traversing the state with their partner organizations to turn out the vote. 

Currently, TJC has several components of its Campaign to address needs that have been identified by our chief Georgia partner, The Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, including organizing special voter outreach and Get Out The Vote events, on-the-ground canvassing, rides to the polls, sign waving, text and phone banking, absentee ballot assistance, youth engagement, senior engagement, votercades, social media campaigns, radio ads, public education, and much more. People can sign up for a committee at VotingRightsAlliance.org. Additionally, Daryl and Barbara will be operating directly from Georgia beginning late November. TJC will also have a core of Gen Z and Millennial volunteers and will be traveling throughout the state. TJC will be operating 2 command centers in Atlanta and Savannah, staffed by the Gen Z and Millennial volunteers.

TJC and its partners are coordinating with groups in Georgia to help ensure this is a fair election process and to turn out the vote in areas with low voter turnout, among other things. People can sign up at GeorgiaVote.eventbrite.com, VotingRightsAlliance.org, or tjcoalition.org to join a non-partisan committee dedicated to Georgia as we Finish The Job of protecting voters. Committees include: phone banking and texting; on-the-ground canvassing; rides to the polls; communications and media (which includes social media and outreach); votercading; and, HBCU outreach. 

QUESTIONS

FIRST AND SECOND SEGMENTS

• If people have problems voting in Georgia, who should they contact
• Quantrell, tell us about your voting experience today. Was it what you expected? What was the mood of the people voting at your precinct?
• Miss Dottie Parham, last week during early voting, you arranged for several seniors at your apartment complex to get rides to the polls. Why was this necessary? How did the seniors react to the TJC busses and program to get rides to the polls?
• How can Everyone Help?
• How can voters use this election cycle to force change?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

SECOND SEGMENT

• Ashley, what does it mean to be a TJC Fellow.
• What are some of the issues that have come up during today’s voting?
• If people have problems voting in Georgia, who should they contact?
• How can Everyone Help?
• How can voters use this election cycle to force change?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?

THIRD AND FOURTH SEGMENTS

• Ben, as the Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, you encountered an unusual situation when you became chair. Please describe the political situation in Wisconsin when you became Chair.
• What has changed the most under your leadership?
• What can the people of Wisconsin do to address the extreme gerrymandering that has been taking place?
• In the recent Midterms, Wisconsin had a sweep of Democrats to office. What do you attribute those political victories to?
• Why do you think Mandela Barnes did not defeat Senator Ron Johnson?
• How closely have you been following the Georgia elections?
• One interesting stat so far in the early voting that of the 1.5 million people who voted, 77,000 had not voted during the midterms. What do you think contributed to this high level of new participation?
• What  do you think of the official statement by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that “The largest Early Voting Day in Georgia history shows that claims of voter suppression in Georgia are conspiracy theories no more valid than Bigfoot”, which has been posted to sos.ga.gov?
• What do you see for the future of the Democratic party in the United States?
• What is your perspective on the tremendous outpouring of youth vote in Wisconsin, Georgia, and in other states? What does this portend for the future of this country?