Sen. Jon Ossoff on Restrictive Voting Laws

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): First of all, we have to remember that all of the initial successes that President Biden has achieved are possible because Georgia voters elected me and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock in those January 5 run- offs. Our victories secured a narrow majority for Democrats in the U.S. Senate. That’s why we were able to pass the American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 stimulus bill, which is delivering, for example, just for Georgia more than $4 billion for public education, which is delivering to families across the country the stimulus checks that are helping bridge the cash flow gap through this economic crisis, and which is making huge investments in vaccine production and supply and the public health response. Now, looking forward, of course, this restrictive voting law is intended to undo the gains that we made in Georgia by making it more difficult for Democratic-leaning voters to vote. The remedies at our disposal are legislative. We need to pass voting rights legislation in the U.S. Senate. Judicial. We need to — and are — challenge these laws in the courts, on grounds that they violate federal voting laws and are unconstitutional, and are organizational. We have to adapt. We have to prepare to mount get-out- the-vote efforts and voter registration efforts that overcome these new restrictions and obstacles that have been put in the way of voters in my home state of Georgia.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, what do you make of — it seems to be sort of a growing mass, a growing momentum of CaEOs and businesses standing up and speaking out, not wanting their brands to be linked in any way with any kind of rollback of democratic rights and voting rights, and even some pulling their business, if you like, from your state? We see Major League Baseball has moved its All-Star Game out of the state. We just said that actor Will Smith and his director are moving their next production out of your state. What do you make of what — the moral stand they say they’re taking?

OSSOFF: Well, I don’t support boycotts. Georgians rely upon and hope for and welcome jobs, investment and opportunity. And, in fact, Christiane, it’s the rapid economic growth in Georgia over the last couple of decades that has helped power much of the political progress that we have seen. But I certainly do support business leaders speaking up strongly in defense of Democratic values and in opposition to partisan administration of elections. This law in Georgia is intended to make it harder for working- class voters and black voters to vote. It’s an abuse of power by our Republican state legislature to try to gain a narrow edge in vital elections that are just a year away.