Georgia State Senator Fran Millar (R)
Recently, DeKalb County in Georgia announced that it will allow county-wide early voting on one Sunday in October. One of the early voting locations will be in the South DeKalb Mall.
Unhappy with this announcement, Georgia State Senator Fran Millar (R) explained his objection this way: "Now we are to have Sunday voting at South DeKalb Mall just prior to the election...This location is dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches...Is it possible church buses will be used to transport people directly to the mall since the poll will be open when the mall opens? If this happens, so much for the accepted principle of separation of church and state."
what eye thynk: When I consider the Republican record on voting rights for minority voters along with southern Republican states' recent attempts to legislate an "official religion," I have to question Mr. Millar's sudden decision to champion the separation of church and state. Color me cynical, but this has very little to do with the First Amendment and everything to do with black voters' history of supporting Democratic candidates. He all but admitted this himself when he commented that he was "sure" Michelle Nunn (D) candidate for the U.S. Senate and Jason Carter (D) candidate for governor were "delighted with this blatantly partisan move in DeKalb."
Considering the number of new voting regulations that negatively effect minority voters being passed by Republican led states, I have to admit that I am in awe of Mr. Millar's ability to stand up and say "blatantly partisan move" with a straight face.
The 2010 census shows that 54% of DeKalb residents are black. That leaves an awful lot of non-black residents who will also be able to vote early; but Mr. Millar doesn't mention early voting locations in "lighter" neighborhoods. Instead, he is focusing his ire on just one location--a mall largely patronized by black citizens that is also in close proximity to black churches. I can only interpret this to mean that he would rather derail early voting for everyone in order to discourage black voters from participating.
Mr. Millar added that he is "investigating if there is any way to stop this action" and that State Representative Mike Jacobs (R) would be joining him in an effort "to eliminate this election law loophole in January."
On Tuesday, Mr. Millar took to his Facebook page to defend himself against the negative publicity generated by his stand against DeKalb County's early voting plan. "I never claimed to be nonpartisan, I would prefer more educated voters than a greater increase in the number of voters. If you don't believe this is an efort (sic) to maximize Democratic votes pure and simple, then you are not a realist. This is a partisan stunt and I hope it can be stopped."
Reading between the lines, it appears that Mr. Millar is saying that white people are smarter voters and their votes, even if the number remains small, are preferable to large numbers of votes placed by black voters who he insinuates are, by comparison, uneducated. He presents this as a totally reasonable point of view, either uncaring or unaware of how insulting this is.
It doesn't seem to occur to him that minority voters choose to vote Democrat in large numbers because Democrats are more in tune with and receptive to a point of view that isn't mega-money-centric, while Republicans continue to court the Koch brothers, slash social programs and to take stands like Mr. Millar's ill-conceived and obvious attempt to disenfranchise anyone who cannot boast a European ancestry.
Bickering over who gets to vote and when they get to do it is not an argument a nation like ours should even be having. The first step in eliminating the controversy is voting unapologetic and bigoted politicians like Mr. Millar out of office. Get your stepping shoes ready. November 4 is only seven weeks away!
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