Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Atlanta on Tuesday to address frustrated voting rights advocates who are facing steep challenges in Georgia after a string of legal setbacks, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It’s the vice president’s 10th trip to Georgia since she took office, and one of a string of events she and President Joe Biden have held in the battleground state focused on expanding access to the ballot.
She plans to hold a roundtable on voting rights at The Gathering Spot, an Atlanta venue that has frequently hosted local and national Democratic figures. The event is slated to begin around noon.
Among the participants are Black Voters Matter cofounder LaTosha Brown, New Georgia Project chief executive Kendra Cotton and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia.
For Biden and Harris, the visits to Georgia and other political battlegrounds are part of an early 2024 campaign swing aiming to energize Black voters who helped propel them to victory four years ago.
It comes as some senior Democrats worry Biden’s base of support is fraying, in part because voting rights protections and other key elements of his “racial equality” agenda have failed to pass a divided Congress.
State Republicans, meanwhile, could consider significant changes to voting laws ahead of the November vote. And the courts have dealt Georgia voting rights advocates a series of defeats, including a recent ruling that found mass challenges to voters’ eligibility didn’t violate federal law and another that upheld GOP-drawn political maps that preserved Republican majorities.
Some advocates hope to press Harris to take new steps to revive the legislative fight to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act -- named after the late Georgia civil rights icon -- to expand voting protections after the U.S. Supreme Court undid parts of the law.
The vice president also will face pressure to spend more time and attention in Georgia ahead of the November vote, as polls here show Biden in a tight race in a potential rematch against former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Republicans have promised to pour tremendous resources into Georgia, which they consider a must-win to recapture the White House in November, and they have stepped up voter outreach initiatives in hopes of surpassing the Democratic mobilization efforts.
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