Delta CEO Ed Bastian is a coward, and his latest attempt to seem concerned about the state of Georgia’s new voter suppression law proves that. Here is what Talking Points Memo is reporting:
Delta CEO Ed Bastian issued a companywide memo on Wednesday criticizing the “unacceptable” new Georgia voting law, following mounting backlash over the executive’s statement last week saying that the bill had “improved considerably during the legislative process.” In a letter sent to employees on Wednesday, Bastian said that although Delta and other major Atlanta corporations had “some success in eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed,” he needed to make his opposition to the law more direct. “I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values,” Bastian said. “The right to vote is sacred. It is fundamental to our democracy and those rights not only need to be protected, but easily facilitated in a safe and secure manner.” Bastian indicated that he reversed course from the company’s previous muted opposition after having time to fully consider the the provisions of the bill, which included engaging in conversations with leaders and employees in the Black community. “It’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives,” Bastian said. “That is wrong.”
Delta CEO Ed Bastian issued a companywide memo on Wednesday criticizing the “unacceptable” new Georgia voting law, following mounting backlash over the executive’s statement last week saying that the bill had “improved considerably during the legislative process.”
In a letter sent to employees on Wednesday, Bastian said that although Delta and other major Atlanta corporations had “some success in eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed,” he needed to make his opposition to the law more direct.
“I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values,” Bastian said. “The right to vote is sacred. It is fundamental to our democracy and those rights not only need to be protected, but easily facilitated in a safe and secure manner.”
Bastian indicated that he reversed course from the company’s previous muted opposition after having time to fully consider the the provisions of the bill, which included engaging in conversations with leaders and employees in the Black community.
“It’s evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly Black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives,” Bastian said. “That is wrong.”
WTF? How did that fuckin’ bill IMPROVE during the legislative process? The Republican legislature can essentially now overturn decisions made by county boards of elections! Here is that fun part of the new law explained:
The most important provisions in the Georgia bill are about who gets to run elections The most significant provisions in SB 202 don’t create new election rules, exactly. Instead, they change who gets to determine how those rules are implemented — handing significant power to the Republicans who control the state legislature, called the General Assembly. “One of the worst aspects of the bill is the part making election administration even more partisan,” says Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UC Irvine. “That’s a move in exactly the wrong direction.” Under current law, key issues in election management — including decisions on disqualifying ballots and voter eligibility — are made by county boards of election. The new law allows the State Board of Elections to determine that these county boards are performing poorly, replacing the entire board with an administrator chosen at the state level. At the same time, the bill enhances the General Assembly’s control over the state board. It removes Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who famously stood up to Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results in Georgia, from his role as both chair and voting member of the board. The new chair would be appointed by the legislature, which already appoints two members of the five-person board — meaning that a full majority of the board will now be appointed by the Republican-dominated body. The greatest area of concern here for Democrats is Fulton County, home to Atlanta and a disproportionate number of Black voters. Republicans have baselessly alleged that this Democratic bastion was a major site of fraud, citing (among other things) a purported video of ballot-stuffing in the county. Though official investigations, court cases, and independent fact-checks found no evidence of such fraud — in the video or otherwise — the myth that it happened persists.To simplify: The state board, which now will be fully controlled by the Republican legislative majority, is unilaterally empowered to take over (among other things) the process of disqualifying ballots across the state. Given that Georgia Republicans have helped promote false allegations of voter fraud, it’s easy to see why handing them so much power over local election authorities is so worrying. The new bill would allow Republicans to seize control of how elections are administered in Fulton County and other heavily Democratic areas, disqualifying voters and ballots as they see fit.
The most significant provisions in SB 202 don’t create new election rules, exactly. Instead, they change who gets to determine how those rules are implemented — handing significant power to the Republicans who control the state legislature, called the General Assembly.
“One of the worst aspects of the bill is the part making election administration even more partisan,” says Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UC Irvine. “That’s a move in exactly the wrong direction.”
Under current law, key issues in election management — including decisions on disqualifying ballots and voter eligibility — are made by county boards of election. The new law allows the State Board of Elections to determine that these county boards are performing poorly, replacing the entire board with an administrator chosen at the state level.
At the same time, the bill enhances the General Assembly’s control over the state board.
It removes Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who famously stood up to Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results in Georgia, from his role as both chair and voting member of the board. The new chair would be appointed by the legislature, which already appoints two members of the five-person board — meaning that a full majority of the board will now be appointed by the Republican-dominated body.
The greatest area of concern here for Democrats is Fulton County, home to Atlanta and a disproportionate number of Black voters. Republicans have baselessly alleged that this Democratic bastion was a major site of fraud, citing (among other things) a purported video of ballot-stuffing in the county. Though official investigations, court cases, and independent fact-checks found no evidence of such fraud — in the video or otherwise — the myth that it happened persists.To simplify: The state board, which now will be fully controlled by the Republican legislative majority, is unilaterally empowered to take over (among other things) the process of disqualifying ballots across the state. Given that Georgia Republicans have helped promote false allegations of voter fraud, it’s easy to see why handing them so much power over local election authorities is so worrying.
The new bill would allow Republicans to seize control of how elections are administered in Fulton County and other heavily Democratic areas, disqualifying voters and ballots as they see fit.
In other words, the Republicans in the legislature get to decide who wins next years elections by throwing out Democratic votes!
And why the hell didn’t you speak to the leaders of the Black community in GA sooner? Shit! They were screaming their heads off about how terrible this bill would be! I’m not in GA, and I heard their screams in KY!
But now that is a law, what are you going to do it about Bastian? Write another useless memo? You could have called or had meetings with all those Republicans in the legislature you paid campaign contributions to! While Kemp and the Republicans can have black legislatures arrested for trying to crash meetings, I know you would have had no trouble meeting with Kemp or those other bastards.
Fuck him.
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