Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, October 5, 2022/Page 20A
(Eift Aiiuancg
Raffensperger Defeats
Stacey Abrams' "Stolen
Election" Claims in Court
The lawsuit alleging
discriminatory and suppres
sive election practices in
Georgia has been decided in
favor of Georgia Secretary
of State Brad Raffensperg
er and the State Elections
Board on all counts, accord
ing to a 288-page order en
tered by U.S District Court
Steve Jones on Friday Sep
tember 30.
“This is a win for all
Georgia election officials
who dedicate their lives to
safe, secure and accessible
elections,” said Raffens
perger in a statement on the
Secretary of State website.
“Stolen election and voter
suppression claims by Sta
cey Abrams were nothing
but poll-tested rhetoric not
supported by facts and evi
dence.”
Abrams, who founded
Fair Fight Action, and oth
er plaintiffs filed an initial
complaint in November
2018, shortly after Abrams
lost her race against Brian
Kemp to become Georgia’s
governor, alleging illegal
and unconstitutional prac
tices had denied the right
to vote to thousands of
Georgians. The allegations
attempted to raise issues
regarding Georgias absen
tee ballot procedures, voter
registration, and voter list
management practices. The
court has denied every alle
gation on each issue.
From the beginning
Raffensperger argued that
Georgia’s elections systems
and procedures were ac
cessible and secure, and ac
knowledged the challenge
in balancing voter access
with election integrity while
strictly abiding by voting
laws and the Constitution.
In its decision, the court
agreed, noting the impos
sibility of perfect elections
given the millions of voters
and tens of thousands of
poll workers necessary to
run an election, “ [al] though
Georgia’s election system is
not perfect, the challenged
practices violate neither the
constitution nor the Voting
Rights Act (VRA.)”
Raffensperger said he is
grateful the matter is settled,
adding "this allows our lo
cal election officials to fully
focus on the task at hand
this year — running a safe,
secure, and accessible elec
tion.”
He added, “This deci
sion should quiet all those
who sow fear and public dis
trust by denying the results
of Georgia’s elections, so
that Georgians know they
can cast a vote, and that it
will be counted in elections
that are free and fair.”
Fair Fight Action Likely
to Appeal
Lawyers for Fair fight
Action said Monday they
will likely appeal last week’s
ruling, Rebecca Grapevine
of Capitol Beat News Ser
vice reported.
Fair Fight Action’s law
suit challenged a long list of
Georgia election policies as
unconstitutional. The law
suit said Georgia’s require
ment that voter records ex
actly match driver’s license
records was too aggressive
and prevented thousands of
Georgians from being able
to register to vote properly.
And state processes caused
problems when verifying
that potential voters were
citizens and not former fel
ons.
Those problems, and
others, disproportionately
impacted voters of color,
making it more difficult for
them to vote, lawyers for
Fair Fight argued.
Judge Jones ruled last
Friday that Fair Fight had
not sufficiently proved a dis
parate impact on voters of
color in the lawsuit, which
he said was the longest-run
ning voting rights case in
the history of the court.
“Obviously, this deci
sion was not the decision
we were hoping for,” Fair
Fight’s lead lawyer, Allegra
Lawrence-Hardy, said Mon
day during a press confer
ence held in response to the
ruling.
“A federal court has
found that there are severe
burdens on voters and con
stitutional violations in our
election system,” Lawrence-
Hardy said, noting the
judge’s opinion identified
many problems in Georgia’s
elections policies. “Yet the
court has only issued rec
ommendations instead of
mandated relief.
It’s baffling that Sec
retary [of State Brad]
Raffensperger or Governor
[Brian] Kemp could read
this court’s findings ... and
celebrate them because this
court has found severe bur
dens on voters of color in
Georgia.”
Despite the legal de
feat, Lawrence-Hardy said
the lawsuit had achieved
some important successes
and raised awareness about
problems with Georgia’s
system.
The lawsuit led Geor
gia to make changes to en
sure some voters were not
purged from voter rolls,
to update election-worker
training materials, and to
change the law on absentee
ballot cancellations to make
it easier for people to vote.
“Because of this suit,
the election system in Geor
gia has changed,” Lawrence-
Hardy said.
State Republican lead
ers called the decision a
victory, saying it vindicates
their approach to Georgia
elections.
“In Georgia, it is easy
to vote and hard to cheat—
and I’m going to continue
to work to keep it that way,”
said Governor Kemp, who
served as secretary of state
until defeating Abrams in
the governor’s race in 2018.
Abrams is running
against Kemp for governor
again this fall.
The Ringing of the Church Bell
What's missing?
On a couple of
Sunday mornings, I
awoke in a quiet
town. There was
such a quiet over the
place, I may as well
have been a mile
east where there is
little sound except
for Mill Creek pass
ing through what
was once Frog Hol
low.
In a few hours I heard the sound of a
bell ringing, a church bell.
When my family moved to Alma,
Georgia, in the early 1950's, it was the
middle of the analog days. Everything was
manual, few things were automatic.
My father was the new pastor of the
First Baptist Church and felt that we
should fit into their routine and not try to
change a thing.
People are resistant to a deviation
from an established habit. It doesn't take
much to be too much.
One routine was the ringing of the
church bell which was mounted atop four
utility poles.
The platform was large enough to
hold a man because a guy from the power
company climbed up and attach a new
rope to the crank.
The sound of the bell was like a rich
“bong,” and the bowl was about three feet
in diameter.
The single and faithful operator of the
bell was a man who, through contempo
rary eyes, would likely be seen as sitting
close to the middle of the autism spec
trum. Everyone in town knew him and
smiled at his harmless habits such as chas
ing dogs down the street. Dogs ran loose
in that day, and there was plenty of com
petition.
On Sunday mornings he stood out
side with one hand gripping the rope and
his wrist watch nearly touching his nose.
When the very second ticked by, he
pulled the rope, punctual according to his
watch, but there was a question of who set
his watch and by what source. Never
minding that Walter Edward Jones, Jr., was
the church's official time keeper.
The first ringing came at 9:00 a.m. to
roust those who needed it. Another ring
ing announced the start of Sunday School,
another announced the time for it to end.
He was twenty-two years old but
seemed ageless when we moved to town.
To the kids he was a harmless curiosity
who never seemed to age.
A new electronic bell system came
with the new sanctuary. Church leaders
met to discuss how the electronic bells
would affect him.
It took a few weeks, some coaching,
praising, but his first positive comment on
the bell system came on a Sunday morn
ing when rain fell in sheets and he didn't
have to stand in it.
I wonder what became of the old
church bell that faithfully tolled the time
in Alma, GA.
Walter Edward “Junior” Jones died in
2004 at age seventy-four.
He is buried beside his mother in
Rose Hill Cemetery.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
By Joe Phillips
Dear Me
Lyons Lions Students of the Month
The Lyons Lions Club Student of the Month program recognizes deserving students
for their “Dedication, Commitment and Service to Others” and is sponsored by Peoples
Bank. For the month of October, the awards were presented to Bradlan McDonald of
Robert Toombs Christian Academy and Tank Morris of Toombs County High School.
L to R: Lion Barry Waller (Lyons Lions Club Student of the Month Chairman), Lion Mitch
Johnson (Peoples Bank Representative), Bradlan McDonald (RTCA Student of the
Month), Travis Absher (Head of School, RTCA).
TANK MORRIS
L to R: Lion Mitch Johnson (Peoples Bank Representative), Tank Morris (TCHS Student of
the Month), Lion Barry Waller (Lyons Lions Club Student of fhe Month Chairman).
Your
Mind
ONLINE
Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind, Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“Yeah, gas prices
have gone down
and they may go
lower. They are still
one dollar higher
than when that other
guy was President.
After the election
expect gas prices to
increase just like they
did when the current
President went into
office."
“Did Kommunist
Harris actually say
the US has an alli
ance with North Ko
rea? Well, she could
be correct, there is
no telling what kind
of secret dastardly
deals these idiots in
Washington may
have made with
North Korea."
“A head of lettuce
$2.99??? Oh no, Joe
and his bunch of idi
ots have got to go!"
“Merriam-Web-
ster’s definition of
fascism: "A central
ized autocratic gov
ernment headed by
a dictatorial leader,
severe economic
and social regimen
tation, and forcible
suppression of oppo
sition." That de
scribes Biden and his
enforcers exactly."
“This is to Jim Dun
can. I know that no
body recognized
you for running into
a burning house to
save your dad. It
took incredible cour
age for you to do
that. I know you, and
you did what you
had to do. In my
book, that's a hero
and don't let any
body take that away
from you."
“I’m glad my re
mote has a mute
button so I can mute
Stacey Abrams, Ra
phael Warnock, and
Herschel Walker's
wife's political ads.
I'm so tired of hear
ing them."
“Uh oh, Stacey’s
at it again. She’s
dreaming about the
governor's mansion
and the White
House. Well, wake
up, girl, I have rela
tives all over Geor
gia and they have
promised to do
whatever is in their
power to be sure
Brian Kemp is in the
governor's mansion
for 4 more years. You
can pack your bags
and go to the house,
wherever that may
be, since you don't
want to be in Geor
gia because it's the
worst place in the
whole country to live
in. I hope this is the
last we hear of you."
“Can somebody
fill the potholes at
the small gate at
Pinecrest Cemetery?
I guess they are not
going to do anything
with the road. It's
disrespectful."
“I called the city
of Vidalia about the
garbage can by the
mausoleum to be
emptied. Well, they
just brought another
one and set it beside
it. Can they have a
little respect for peo
ple and clean it up?
It's what they get
paid for."
“I am a Biden
man. Who you
gonna get to re
place Joe? Not even
Porky Pig can say it
like Joe can."
“America is stuck
between a rock and
a hard place as
things get worse and
worse. Mentally de
ficient Biden stays in
office only because
the idea of the to
tally incompetent
Harris taking his
place is terrifying.
She is his best insur
ance policy."
“Does Vidalia
have a plan for filling
the many potholes
that are harming our
vehicles around the
town?"