Press Release: Texan is Part of Effort to Monitor Against Voter Suppression During the Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release
January 5, 2021 

Contact: Taryn Brown
214-938-4888
taryn@tarynbrownco.com 

Texan is Part of Effort to Monitor Against Voter Suppression During the Georgia Senate Runoff Elections
Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) Black Ballots, Black Futures-Georgia-GOTV

Who:  Texan Abdul Dosunmu, the founder and chief strategist Young Black Lawyers' Organizing Coalition (YBLOC)

What:  Black Ballots, Black Futures-Georgia-GOTV effort transitions to monitoring against voter suppression

When:   Jan. 5 for the Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

Background:   The Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC) recently launched their nonpartisan GOTV voter protection campaign, which aims to empower Black voters and protect Black voting rights during the Georgia runoff elections. During the runoff elections, the effort will focus on monitoring against voter suppression tactics.

As noted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, YBLOC recently called on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to immediately address gaps in Georgia runoff election information on state and county election webpages. YBLOC also hosted a series of nonpartisan voter-protection education sessions with strategic partners and local media platforms to engage grassroots leaders to serve as voter protection ambassadors in the communities they serve.

“As Election Day approaches, we are monitoring the Georgia runoff elections to ensure that Black voters are able to freely and fully vote and that their votes are fully counted,” said Dallasite Abdul Dosunmu, the founder and chief strategist of the Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC). “Unfortunately, we have already seen voter suppression attempts in the Georgia runoff elections, from Early Voting poll site closures to mass voter challenges. It is critical that we activate to combat these and other voter suppression tactics and safeguard Black voting rights.”

YBLOC’s Black Ballots, Black Futures November general election initiative spanned across seven states. In Arkansas, the voter-protection campaign spearheaded voting-rights litigation to protect 132,000 absentee voters. In response to the litigation, the Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners issued an order requiring that the counting of absentee ballots continue until all votes were counted. Prior to the order, thousands of absentee ballots were at risk of not being counted due to Arkansas’s arbitrary counting deadline. 

To ensure voters’ safety, YBLOC distributed 180,300 items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Black voters in Texas and South Carolina during the November general election. YBLOC also led voter-protection training sessions in Black communities, engaged in robust local advocacy to hold state and local elections officials accountable, and mobilized legal volunteers to support national election protection efforts.

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