Stacey Abrams Doubles Down On ‘Voter Suppression’ Claims In Georgia Despite Record Early Turnout

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams claimed Friday that voter suppression is happening in Georgia, despite the state so far seeing record-breaking voter turnout.

Abrams claimed that Georgia voters were being “suppressed” in the swing state and also that the government has made it more difficult for American voters to cast their ballots while discussing early voting in an appearance on “CNN News Central.” The state has seen record early voter turnout, with 3.5 million total ballots being cast as of Friday morning, according to News4JAX.

“While we are excited about who is showing up, we have to understand that turnout does not mean there is not voter suppression activity,” Abrams said. “A lot of those voters in 2020 were able to vote by mail. One of the reasons we are seeing early lines is because they can no longer use the easier method of voting by mail because of SB 202, because of SB 189, laws that Raffensperger and Brian Kemp supported and pushed forward.”

WATCH:

“People who are disabled, people who have lost their homes, are facing harder times casting their ballots, but they refuse to be silenced,” Abrams said. “What we are excited about is that here in the state of Georgia, despite the government making it harder to cast your ballot, people are willing to fight to make it happen anyway.”

“We believe they are standing in these lines, especially to support Kamala Harris,” Abrams added.

Abrams has repeatedly made unproven claims about voter suppression and previously refused to concede to Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after the gubernatorial election in November 2018. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also previously denounced claims from Abrams about stolen elections.

The state passed a law in March 2021 that placed restrictions on absentee ballots and enhanced the verification process for the ballots. President Joe Biden previously called laws that require voter ID “Jim Crow 2.0.”

Georgia is considered a key battleground state in this election cycle. Other battlegrounds have also seen high turnout for early voting this year, including North Carolina, which saw a record 353,000 ballots cast on the state’s first day of early voting.

Former President Donald Trump is currently leading by 2.6 percentage points in Georgia at 49.3% to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 46.7%, according to averages from RealClear Polling. The GOP presidential candidate is currently leading in all of the top battlegrounds at 48.6%, 1.1 percentage points ahead of Harris’ 47.5%, according to RealClear Polling averages.