The BradCast w/ Brad Friedman

'BradCast' 7/21/2021 (Guest: Voting rights champion Helen Butler on new GOP voter suppression laws)

07.22.2021 - By Brad FriedmanPlay

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On today's 'BradCast':  Republican-controlled states around the nation are adopting a wave of new voter suppression laws that not only disproportionately block minority groups from accessing the ballot, but also advance pernicious measures allowing the removal of qualified election officials, for virtually any reason, replacing them with partisans who can unilaterally undermine election laws and overturn legitimate election results.  HELEN BUTLER is one of those longtime election officials who has just been removed under Georgia's new voter suppression law.  Butler is a fierce, venerable voting and civil rights champion, the Executive Director of The Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, and until recently, a ten-year veteran of the bipartisan Morgan County, Georgia Board of Elections -- until top state Republican officials removed the entire board with little explanation.  Butler explains the disturbing provisions of Georgia's new law that, among other things, erects new barriers to voting by mail, bans absentee drop boxes, blocks the distribution of food or water on long voting lines, and more.  Butler details many actions that concerned voters can take to protect and defend voter access in their communities, warning, 'This is our darkest hour. This is our Selma moment, and we must act.' Also today:  more sad news of the rising death toll among those who are unvaccinated against COVID -- especially among tragically misinformed Trump-supporters, Republican COVID deniers and others.  Plus:  more fact-checking of baseless allegations from the clown-show 'audit' of the 2020 election in Maricopa Co., AZ, including their new misleading, uninformed claims about the cybersecurity of the county's electronic voting systems.

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