Fair Fight Action is an American political organization founded in 2018 by Stacey Abrams to address voter suppression in Georgia and across the United States.[1]
 | |
| Founded | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Stacey Abrams |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
Executive Director | Lauren Groh-Wargo |
| Website | fairfight |
Origins
edit
Stacey Abrams had long been involved with the Democratic Party, serving as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives since 2007, and was the minority leader 2011–2017.[2] In 2018 Abrams ran for Governor of Georgia against Republican Brian Kemp.[3] The 2018 gubernatorial race received national attention for irregularities in voter access to the ballot. At the time, Kemp was serving as Secretary of State and was responsible for the state's voter rolls. He stalled 50,000 votes while he held this position. Civil rights groups interpreted this as intentional voter suppression since his action affected predominantly black voters.[4][5] In the aftermath of her loss to Kemp, Abrams established Fair Fight Action, "after witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State's office."[6] Abrams decided not to run for president and instead commit to this interest group in the 2020 election.[2] In 2021, Abrams announced to run again for governor in the 2022 election.[7]
In 2019, Abrams created Fair Fight 2020, an initiative aimed at monitoring voting practices in key battleground states.[2]
Goals and initiatives
editFair Fight Action aims to make elections in Georgia and the rest of the U.S. more equitable by advocating for changes in voter registration laws that will increase the number of eligible voters. Their goals are to encourage voter turnout and to ensure that all votes are accurately counted.[8] They also want to make absentee ballots more consistent. Abrams has stated she will "use my energies and my very loud voice to raise the money we need to train those across the country in our 20 battleground states".[9]
Fair Fight Action joined the Voter Empowerment Task Force, which is composed of other civil rights groups such as GA NAACP, Black Voters Matter Fund, and the Georgia Coalition for People's Agenda. The coalition's mission was to fight voter intimidation and Raffensperger's task force.[10] The organization has also condemned Brian Kemp's signing of House Bill 838, which further strengthened protections for first responders, including police officers.[11] Fair Fight Action believes that this legislation will only make black people more vulnerable to corrupt officers.
The 2020 presidential election brought national attention to the state of Georgia. Georgia was one of the swing states that potentially determined the outcome of the election. Former Vice President Joe Biden won the state by a razor-thin lead over President Donald Trump. Many have credited her for not only turning Georgia into a blue state, but for Fair Fight Action's influence on voter turnout in 20 other states, including crucial states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.[12] Thus, she has been praised for playing a significant role in Biden's win by bringing in more voters from marginalized communities.[13]
Fair Fight Action has raised $6 million to support Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Georgia Senate runoff elections that were held on January 5, 2021. Fair Fight Action works with the non-partisan VoteRiders[14] organization to spread state-specific information on voter ID requirements. Warnock and Ossoff both won their races, flipping the control of the Senate to the Democrats.[15]
Legal action
editIn August 2019, Fair Fight Action sued the Georgia Secretary of State's office over what they consider to be unconstitutional voting issues.[2] Fair Fight Action was a party to the court case Curling v. Raffensperger which ordered the state of Georgia to dispose of all old Diebold voting machines prior to Georgia's 2020 presidential preference primary in March.[16][17] The lawsuit initially alleged that voting lines and wait times were too long, that voter ID laws discriminated against people of color, that "exact match" policies for voter names and addresses were racially discriminatory,[18] that voter rolls were being improperly maintained, and that voting machines were vulnerable to being hacked and were switching votes from Abrams to Kemp.[19] These claims gradually narrowed to three before being rejected in federal court.[19]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "About Fair Fight Action". Fair Fight. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
- ^ a b c d Herndon, Astead W. (August 13, 2019). "Stacey Abrams Will Not Run for President in 2020, Focusing Instead on Fighting Voter Suppression". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Georgia gubernatorial election results". CNN. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
- ^ Blinder, Alan; Fausset, Richard (November 16, 2018). "Stacey Abrams Ends Fight for Georgia Governor With Harsh Words for Her Rival". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ^ Herndon, Astead W. (October 19, 2018). "Georgia Voting Begins Amid Accusations of Voter Suppression". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
- ^ "About Stacey Abrams". Fair Fight. Archived from the original on 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ^ Finn, Teaganne (December 1, 2021). "Democrat Stacey Abrams announces 2022 bid for Georgia governor". NBC News. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ "Why We Fight". Fair Fight. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ^ "Abrams brings Fair Fight 2020 to Georgia". Associated Press. August 17, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ^ Niesse, Mark. "Voter protection group created to counter Georgia fraud investigations". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "What is HB 838 and why are civil rights groups against it?". 11Alive.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "Stacey Abrams says fighting voter suppression changed "the trajectory of the nation"". CBS News. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
- ^ Bailey, Chelsea (November 10, 2020). "Stacey Abrams: The woman behind Biden's biggest surprise". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
- ^ VoteRiders Partner Organizations
- ^ "Ossoff and Warnock win senate seats in Georgia". Washingtonpost.
- ^ Niesse, Mark (August 16, 2019). "Judge denies paper ballots in Georgia this year but requires them in 2020". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- ^ "Order:Donna Curling v. Brad Raffensperger" (PDF). August 15, 2019.
- ^ Brown, Matthew (2022-10-01). "Federal judge upholds Georgia election law in challenge brought by Abrams". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
- ^ a b Gibson, Brittany (October 24, 2022). "Abrams' campaign chair collected millions in legal fees from voting rights organization". POLITICO. Retrieved October 24, 2022.