Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the high voter turnout in Georgia’s early voting did not disprove charges of voter suppression.
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, we have seen incredible turnout at the polls in Georgia so far. On Friday, though, Vice President Harris spoke about attacks on the freedom to vote, and she specifically referenced the state of Georgia. As you know, the Department of Justice and the state had been fighting going all the way back to 2021 about some state laws that the Justice Department said denied or abridged the right of black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color. The Justice Department did not win that case. Do you think that the Vice President’s continued comments could backfire here in terms of discouraging people from showing up to vote?
WARNOCK: No, I think the aim of voter suppression is to discourage people from voting. Look, we saw the shenanigans of the Georgia State Board of Elections for what they are. This effort to literally change the rules while people are voting, and the courts rightly pushed back on that. Remember that during my runoff, my last runoff, I had to sue the state of Georgia, State officials just so people could vote the first weekend of the runoff. Thankfully, the courts got it right during my election, and by the way, my margin of victory was close to the number of people who voted that first weekend that they said ‘we couldn’t vote.’ The courts got it right in my case. They got it right again this week, but I think the most important thing is for folks to show up. The way to respond to this is to not to allow, to not allow anyone to silence your voice. I’m glad that we’re seeing this incredible turnout all across our state. I think it speaks to the vigilance of the people of Georgia, and I hope they’ll keep it up all the way through early voting, which ends on November 1st then that they will get others there on November 5th.
BRENNAN: But, your governor, Brian Kemp, said the truth is that it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia, and he has criticized the Vice President and Democratic officials, saying they lied about Georgia’s election laws to raise campaign cash and scare people. Doesn’t this high turnout assuage some of what you call attempts at voter suppression?
WARNOCK: Listen, I’ve been through a few elections in Georgia, and what we saw was lines wrapped around buildings. We saw the effort of state officials to make it impossible for people to vote the first weekend of our runoff, and Georgians stood up. Listen, the fact that voter voters turn out doesn’t mean there’s no voter suppression. It just means that people aren’t willing to have their voices silenced or muted. And the good news is that they’re showing up, and we’ll keep this going between now and November 1, and then show up on Election Day on November 5.
BRENNAN: So you stand by your belief that there are attempts to suppress the vote in Georgia?
WARNOCK: Listen, we saw what the state board of elections did just this last week. They literally, are trying to change the rules in the middle of an election-
WARNOCK: -And the courts, the courts, had to undo what they were trying to do. And what I’m saying to the people of Georgia is that the way to respond to this is to keep showing up because when we show up, we win.
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