Dem Rep. Williams: ‘Record’ Turnout ‘Does Not Mean’ Voting Wasn’t Restricted, Shouldn’t ‘Have to Organize’ ‘out of Voter Suppression’

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Don Lemon Tonight,” Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA) said that “Just because we’ve seen a record” amount of turnout in Georgia’s primaries so far, “does not mean that there weren’t things done to restrict the vote.” She also argued that “we should not have to organize our way out of voter suppression,” and stated that she’ll do what it takes to ensure “that voters have the information that they needed about the changes in the laws and were still able to cast their ballot.”

Williams stated, “Just because we’ve seen a record number of turnout does not mean that there weren’t things done to restrict the vote. Some of these votes are voters that would have ordinarily voted on election day, but not knowing what the new rules are or how it impacted them, some people are voting early. But also, we’ve always said that while we should not have to organize our way out of voter suppression, we were going to do whatever it took to make sure that voters have the information that they needed about the changes in the laws and were still able to cast their ballot. At the end of the day, it is our goal to continue to make sure that people have the information that they need so that everyone can cast a ballot. And the Republicans have continued to restrict access to the ballot. It is clear that the law that they passed, S.B. 202, changed the mechanism by which people would access the ballot. And even looking at all of these statewide races, we’re going to have runoffs. The runoff period is now shorter, only three weeks, and you’re not even going to have an opportunity to register to vote before the runoff elections.”

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