Businesses condemned Georgia's voting law, then gave thousands to its backers
Source: Washington Post
Businesses condemned Georgia’s voting law, then gave thousands to its backers
Comcast is among several corporations that raised alarm about voting restrictions but donated to Georgia politicians who supported the state’s legislation
By Isaac Stanley-Becker
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Three months ago, Comcast responded to the passage of Georgia’s sweeping voting law by saying, “Efforts to limit or impede access to this vital constitutional right for any citizen are not consistent with our values.”
That was then.
On June 30, the telecommunications giant contributed $2,500 to Georgia’s attorney general, Chris Carr, who has vigorously defended the law, which critics say will curtail voting access, including by limiting use of drop boxes for absentee ballots and making it a crime for third-party groups to hand out food and water to voters standing in line. President Biden’s Justice Department sued Georgia over the measure last month, saying it discriminated against Black voters, while the bill’s proponents maintain it is necessary to shore up confidence in the state’s elections.
Comcast was one of several companies that raised alarm about the voting restrictions but then contributed more than $20,000 collectively between April and June of this year to Georgia politicians who voted for or publicly defended the legislation, according to an examination by Advance Democracy, a nonprofit research group headed by Daniel J. Jones, a former FBI analyst who led the Senate investigation into the CIA’s use of torture after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The findings are based on new campaign finance disclosures. They highlight how businesses have been thrust into a roiling debate over race and voting access, compelled by their customers to present themselves as bulwarks against GOP-led crackdowns inspired by former president Donald Trump’s false claims about widespread voter fraud.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/22/voting-georgia-donations/
