Readers write
Voting has become easy in Georgia
Tamieka Atkins’ guest opinion column, “Making every Georgia vote count means removing every barrier to participation,” AJC, Oct. 19, paints a grim picture of Georgia’s voting process, one that’s hard to recognize if you’ve voted here lately.
Early voting runs 18 straight days this month, from Oct. 14–31, with weekend hours and 24 locations across Fulton County. Any resident can vote at any site. I voted Saturday at the Alpharetta Library — no lines, no barriers, and certainly no lost wages, contrary to Ms. Atkins’ claims. The poll workers were friendly, and the process took minutes.
Ironically, the CEO of a coalition devoted to civic engagement seems unaware of how easy voting has become in Georgia. If her organization is truly committed to empowering voters, it might start by sharing accurate information — not outdated talking points — about how accessible the process is today.
PAUL MILLER, ALPHARETTA
Dem subgroups help fight erosion of rights
Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, in her Oct. 19 AJC column, insists that Democrats in Georgia and nationally need to “ditch the identity politics” in order to win hearts, minds and elections. She recommends eliminating caucuses within the party based on identity, such as the African American, Latino and LBGTQ+ caucuses.
I wonder if Bordeaux has ever considered why these subgroups of the party exist in the first place. People in these identity categories would probably not feel the need for caucuses representing them in the party if they had not spent decades being attacked — in public policy, in rhetoric, in persecution and even physical violence — for no other reason than being part of those communities.
Even now, the Trump regime — which she claims to oppose — is targeting practically anyone with brown skin or a Hispanic surname for deportation, regardless of their actual citizenship status, without due process or any evidence of criminal behavior in many cases.
Transgender military personnel are being targeted as “dishonorable” and inimical to national defense. Women of childbearing age and trans men are being targeted by both federal and state governments run by Republicans with laws against abortion that force them to flee their homes for “blue” states.
Economic concerns are certainly valid, but so are concerns about the erosion of our constitutional rights and democratic norms. No Democrat and no American with any conscience can afford to ignore or decry the latter for the sake of winning over those more concerned about the former.
MATT G. LEGER, ATLANTA
