Dear editor:

As secretary of state, Brian Kemp’s main duty for eight years was to direct the election process in Georgia, and he had everything in his favor. Republicans had solid control of the house, senate, and governor’s office, therefore any changes he wanted should have been easy. By now we should be using updated voting equipment with printout verification, voter roll data should be safe from hacking, and everyone who meets basic requirements should be able to easily cast their ballot. 

Sadly, none of this is true. We are still using outdated equipment with no means of verification, all our voter records (6.2 million) were compromised and Kemp refused to make public the investigation results, and instead of making it easier, his only “accomplishment” was to make it harder to vote. So how did we punish Brian for his total failure as secretary of state? We elected him governor!

Of course, that is now the goal in red states. Targeted voter suppression is one of republicans’ main weapons for winning, especially in areas where races are close. Just keeping a few democrats away from the ballot box can make the difference. With today’s laser-focused demographic breakdowns, it’s easy to target concentrations of blacks, Hispanics, etc., to work this magic. 

Brad Raffensperger would simply be a clone of Brian Kemp and continue to find ways to keep democrats from the polls and republicans in total control. Brad has a lot of gall trying to paint John Barrow as one who would foul up our election system; that honor has already been taken by Brian Kemp. With Raffensperger as secretary of state, he would be little more than a puppet controlled by Kemp and the Georgia Republican Party. Voters have one chance to correct this, but sadly, I doubt they will.

Ken Copi

Pembroke