The Cobb County board of elections voted to ask county commissioners for funding to mail absentee applications to active voters for November.

A Cobb County ballot drop box from 2020. New Georgia legislation has made these drop boxes less accessible.

Credit: Cobb County Elections

The panel

Jim Galloway, @JimJournalist, Former political columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stan Washington, @StanWashington, Editor-at-large, The Atlanta Voice
Stephen Fowler, @stphnfwlr, Political reporter GPB News,
Tanya Washington, @AskProfW, Professor of law, Georgia State University

The breakdown

1. The ACLU has refiled a lawsuit against Georgia's new abortion law.

  • The ACLU hopes to get the suit in front of the Georgia Supreme Court in order to use the privacy law protected in Article 20 of the state constitution.
  • According to a recent AJC poll, a majority of Georgians did not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned. That may impact election turnout.

Tanya Washington outlines the ACLU's challenge to Georgia's abortion law. The organization is attempting to use Georgia privacy law to prove the state constitution provides a right to abortion.

2. Georgia Republicans restrict access to ballot drop boxes.

  • A new state election law restricts access to ballot drop boxes. In a joint investigation, Stephen Fowler finds that this most impacts voters in urban and suburban areas.
  • Stan Washington calls efforts to make voting harder a "scorched earth" policy.

Stan Washington outlines the Republican reasoning for restricting access to ballot drop boxes.

3. As teachers get ready to go back to school, they will be restricted on teaching topics around race and gender.

  • Although teachers received raises ahead of the new semester, some worry that banning the teaching of "divisive concepts" will have a chilling effect on hiring.
  • Tanya Washington says new Georgia legislation "deputizes parents" to confront teachers on teaching materials that make them uncomfortable.

Tanya Washington breaks down the issue with protecting kids from "uncomfortable" topics.

4. After claiming the 2020 election results were fraudulent, Republicans are enlisting election volunteers and disputing individual voter records.

  • Under Georgia law, individual voters may challenge the eligibility of other voters, which prompts an investigation.

 

Monday on Political Rewind: Former Rep. Buddy Darden joins the panel.

 

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