Stacey Abrams Takes Issue With Fox News Host Over Voter Suppression

SHANNON BREAM: You are a successful author and attorney. You’ve said that words are very careful. You choose them carefully. They’re important. You’ve used the words rigged and stolen about the 2018 gubernatorial election. You said it was proper because you can back it up. But a federal judge has now said the voter protocols that you challenged in Georgia, by his estimation, didn’t violate the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act.

New York Times adds this: “The judge who was nominated by President Barack Obama added that verified action did not provide direct evidence of a voter who was unable to vote, experienced longer wait times, was confused about voter registration status.” Do you take issue with Judge Jones’ findings in this case?

STACEY ABRAMS: I take issue with the characterization that you’ve read. What the judge said in the 288-page decision was that repeatedly under the Greenville Standard, Georgia violated Section two of the Voting Rights Act. Under the Brnovich standard, which existed as of 2021. The Greenville existed in 2020.

SHANNON BREAM: Well, I’ve read the opinion as well, and I would say the characterization is a bit different. But he does ultimately, Judge Jones say no violation of Voting Rights Act. And you mentioned there are different standards in case law that’s evolved through the Supreme Court on that front. But the direct quote from his ruling says, “No evidence that a voter couldn’t vote, experienced wait times or confused about voter registration status.”

And I know the issue here for you is voter suppression. So let’s look at the numbers. In Georgia, the last gubernatorial primary versus now, there was a net increase of 763,380 voters. That sounds like the opposite of voter suppression.

STACEY ABRAMS: Voter suppression is not about turnout. It’s about the barriers and obstacles to access. And that’s one of the other conflations I think it’s very important that we distinguish. Voter suppression exist when there is difficulty registering, staying on the rolls, being able to cast a ballot and having that ballot counted.