Campaign violation charges against Black Voters Matter in Albany dropped

ATLANTA — Black Voters Matter celebrated Wednesday a State Board of Elections ruling that BVM and its partners were not in violation of [O.C.G.A. 21-2-414(a)(1)(3)] for illegal campaigning in Albany.

The ruling confirms a Feb. 1 determination by Georgia’s Secretary of State in which he reversed his preliminary finding and concluded that BVM and its partners did not violate this law.

“We believe that the Secretary of State and the State Board of Elections made the right decision in this case; however, we will continue to challenge these unjust laws in court, which seek to stretch the long recognized meaning of electioneering to include humanitarian efforts to pass out food, water and support to voters standing in long lines,” April Alright, Black Voters Matter’s national legal director, said in a news release.

This case is one of the first attempts by the state of Georgia to prosecute individuals for violations under SB 202. BVM is working with local partners Rep Georgia, Protect the Vote, Southern Poverty Law Center, Common Cause Georgia, and Social Change to protect the vote.

Charges by the State Board of Elections is a direct threat to voting rights in the state of Georgia and specifically in Dougherty County, a predominantly black county that was severely impacted by the decision to reduce the number of early/advance voting sites to a single location during the 2020 presidential election, BVM officials said.

In 2020, a Black Voters Matter employee and three organizers partnering with BVM were cited for illegal campaigning in Albany during early/advance voting for distributing water and snacks to voters waiting in lines for six hours to vote. Although these events happened prior to the passage of SB 202, the four individuals, known as the Food and Water Four, were charged with soliciting votes by the mere act of giving out food and water.

“This prosecution, although dropped, is yet another example of voter intimidation and efforts to criminalize passing out food and water to voters waiting in line,” Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, said. “Because of the long lines that voters were forced to wait in in order to cast a ballot, there were multiple accounts of individuals passing out because of the heat.”

File Photo: Tara Fletcher