Let Your Voice Be Heard

Voting booths in America
SoS Raffensperger, Sen. Jason Carter, Dr. Andra Gillespie ask for your voice in November 

On September 15, 2020 GeorgiaForward was pleased to welcome Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Carter Center Chair Jason Carter, Doctor Andra Gillespie of Emory University, and Janet Lee of the U.S. Census Bureau to a deep dive discussion on voting.

  • “The shortest line you’ll have, obviously, is at your kitchen table when you vote absentee.” 6:48
  • “Our elections have become almost sad events.” 11:40
  • “I said, ‘Hey, how long have you been in this line?’ and he said, ‘Oh I’ve been here about six and a half hours.’ I said, ‘Oh I’m sorry you had to wait so long.’ And he said, ‘Oh sir, I’ve been waiting so much longer.’ And it just makes you realize, I think, the way in which our vote and right to vote is preservative of all the others. It defines our role in our community.” 15:27
  • “[Y]ou come to this office in awe and reverence for the people who’ve gone before.” 36:24
  • “Simply stated, the Census is the precursor to voting. There are two reasons why we conduct the Census: power and money.” 39:30
  • “[I]f you don’t show up [to vote] you’re truly irrelevant . . . To stay home does not do a service to your view that you’re looking for someone better. What it does is it sends a message that you don’t care.” 50:33
  • “I’m very proud to be a Georgian. I think we have a history that is a microcosm of the struggle that our country has undergone and the transformation that our country has undergone.” 52:28
  • “We have to get a hold of this increasing partisan intolerance. I know how difficult it is but we all have to take steps to make sure that we get to know people and that we don’t stereotype and defame people whose political beliefs are different from ours.” 59:08

Special thanks to Larry Hanson, presenting partner Georgia Municipal Association, and supporting partner Central Atlanta Progress.

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