Raffensperger calls Abrams concerns about election accessibility in Georgia ‘silly’ 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on Wednesday dismissed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’s concerns about election accessibility in the state as “silly.” 

“Her argument — it’s silly. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not logical,” Raffensperger said on “CNN This Morning.”  

Abrams has long criticized new voting rules in the state, known as SB 202, which went into effect last year. 

“It is an abomination that SB 202, a law that has allowed racist white supremacists to challenge the legal authority of citizens to vote, is being held up as some sort of native good. It is a terrible law that has already sent people home from the polls, people who were denied the right to vote,” Abrams said at the recent Georgia gubernatorial debate.  

Amid Georgia’s record-breaking early voting, Abrams said “the fact that people are voting is in spite of SB 202, not because of it.” 

But Raffensperger on Wednesday waved off Abrams’s criticisms.  

“We now have photo ID for all forms of voting … and that really helps you identify with, you know, enhanced security and confidence in the process. And so we’re seeing that people really feel that we have safe, secure and honest elections. And look at the numbers. We’re having record turnout for early voting. People are seeing that the lines are move quickly. We’re not seeing any major issues in any area,” he said. 

Abrams, who is challenging Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) after losing narrowly to him in 2018, has made voting rights and election accessibility pillars of her campaign platform.

Even as early voters surge in, the Democrat has underscored continued voter suppression issues in the state, particularly for voters of color.

Abrams was seen as instrumental in mobilizing Black voters to cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election and has dismissed recent concerns that she might not be speaking to that same demographic in her second gubernatorial bid.

SB 202 overhauled the state’s voting setup, adding new identification requirements and shortening the window in which a Georgia voter can apply for a mail-in ballot, among other changes.