Action Needed to Remedy Vague and Imprecise Information on State and County Election Webpages

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FULTON, December 17, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) has called for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to immediately address gaps in Georgia runoff election information on state and county webpages. The embedded letter, asks Raffensperger to:

(1) Direct all counties to clearly state the beginning and end calendar dates of their Early Voting period for the January 5th runoff elections on their election webpages.

(2) Where Early Voting days conflict with holidays, instruct all counties to provide clear notice on their election webpages of any holiday-related Early Voting closures, amended hours, and makeup dates and times.

(3) Ensure that all state and county election webpages clearly list the specific deadline by which absentee ballots must be received by election officials.

“We are calling on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to take immediate action to remedy alarming information gaps on state and county election webpages regarding important details of the January 5th runoff elections,” said Abdul Dosunmu, the founder and chief strategist of the Young Black Lawyers' Organizing Coalition (YBLOC). “It is unacceptable for official election webpages to communicate vague and imprecise election information or, worse, to contain outdated guidance from the November general election. Voters should be able to access clear, transparent, and up-to-date election information on these official election information portals. We will continue to monitor this issue.”

With the final weeks of the Georgia runoff elections approaching, this nonpartisan advocacy is part of YBLOC’s Black Ballots, Black Futures–Georgia GOTV voter protection campaign, which aims to empower Black voters and protect Black voting rights during the Georgia runoff elections. YBLOC is also hosting a series of nonpartisan voter-protection education sessions with strategic partners and local media platforms to engage grassroots leaders to serve as voter protection ambassadors in the communities they serve.

YBLOC’s Black Ballots, Black Futures November general election initiative spans across seven states. In Arkansas, the voter-protection campaign spearheaded voting-rights litigation to protect 132,000 absentee voters. In response to the litigation, the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners issued an order requiring that the counting of absentee ballots continue until all votes were counted. Prior to the order, thousands of absentee ballots were at risk of not being counted due to Arkansas’s arbitrary counting deadline.

To ensure voters’ safety, YBLOC distributed 180,300 items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Black voters in Texas and South Carolina during the November general election. YBLOC also led voter-protection training sessions in Black communities, engaged in robust local advocacy to hold state and local elections officials accountable, and mobilized legal volunteers to support national election protection efforts.

Georgia voters can attend YBLOC's nonpartisan voter protection education session on Monday, December 28, 2020 at 3 p.m. (EST).

About The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition
The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) is the only network of young Black lawyers and law students mobilizing to protect and empower Black voters across the country through community-centered voter education, litigation and election protection support, and local advocacy. Through the Black Ballots, Black Futures campaign, YBLOC is activating 1,000 young Black lawyers and law students to protect and empower 500,000 Black voters in seven target states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas.

Taryn Brown
Taryn Brown + Co
taryn@tarynbrownco.com
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