The Morning Dispatch: Understanding Georgia’s New Elections Law

Plus: The Supreme Court considers a case over NCAA amateurism.

By
555

Happy Friday! Wishing a blessed Good Friday and happy Easter to all celebrating this weekend. 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that fully-vaccinated people do not carry the virus that causes COVID-19, and therefore cannot transmit it. “Authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are effective for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in real-world conditions,” the report concludes.

  • Pfizer and BioNTech on Thursday released updated results from their COVID-19 vaccine’s Phase 3 study, showing that, after six months, it remained 100 percent effective at preventing severe disease and 91.3 percent effective against symptomatic disease. Researchers are still determining how long protection from the vaccines will last and whether booster shots will be necessary in the future.

  • Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy media figure Jimmy Lai was convicted on Thursday—along with six other activists—of unlawful assembly. The group is set to receive their sentences at a later date, but could face several years in prison.

Create a free account
Access additional articles and newsletters for no cost, no credit card information needed. Continue ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN
555
By
Comments (555)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Brett Bogo

    Thanks for this. It will help me discuss tomorrow as I am the conservative amongst the liberals at Easter. I also live in a political family.

    Collapse
  2. Sean Price

    Kathy Kattenburg nails why this Dispatch story completely misses the mark. Why are we "reforming" voting laws when the current procedures clearly worked? The story seems to be pleading that if the Republican base is afraid of something irrational - in this case, nonexistent voter fraud - then it's OK for GOP lawmakers to do something, anything to appease it. I don't live in Georgia and haven't followed Georgia's law closely. But I live in Texas and I know the proposed laws coming down the pike are designed to suppress voting - period. They restrict hours for polling places, eliminate drive-thru voting, and restrict the ability to get vote-by-mail ballots to the people who need them. And they're part of a long-standing effort to restrict voting based on - again - made-up concerns about voter fraud. I hope The Dispatch's future report on Texas chronicles the actual impact of these laws and stays away from the "both sides do it" nonsense permeating this story.

    Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Ed P

    Decent conservatives need to stop justifying the unjustifiable.

    Just because its not as bad as Democratic politicians make it out to be does
    make it acceptable. The situation in Georgia was totally atrocious prior to this bill. It should not need to be an argument among the rational whether hours long lines to vote is acceptable in any case, and particularly when that is obviously skewed towards minority communities.

    Full stop.

    It is a total disgrace even before we get into Georgia’s disgusting history of voter disenfranchisement based on. Why can’t the conservatives that are a supposedly trying to be fair minded and respectful of American ideals get on the right side of this issue? Voting rights are sacred. Get with the program

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Ed P

      Very disappointed in the Dispatch Staff. Why dob’t you gloss over how Kemp was the official executive in charge of the election he ran in and won - where Georgia has the longest lines to vote in the nation. Its almost as if Abrams had no ground to stand on in her accusations. Its almost as if Kemp/ GA didn’t lose several court cases re voter suppression.

      What gives?!

      Collapse
    2. Avatar photo
      Ed P

      I should add, “decent conservatives are not really so decent unless they can get on the right side of this issue”.

      It is infuriating

      Collapse
  4. SGruenwald

    Multiple write-ups from the Dispatch about the GA voting changes but nothing about the two (to paraphrase Jonah) large charismatic mega fauna in the room: the little tidbits about the Legislators gaining potential control of the local election boards/counts (no chance for shenanigans there I'm sure) and the premise that this bill is an attempt at balancing voting access and improving "election security" where there was zero issues with "election security".

    Collapse
    1. C Pittman

      This was what was so shocking about the bill. Dispatch, you missed it!!!

      Collapse
  5. Avatar photo
    Jen

    So Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have announced they’re going after Major League Baseball’s anti-trust exemption. I’m sure Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton will be joining them soon. This is all such performative BS (as is MLB moving the all star game out of Georgia). I think what MLB did was stupid and if fans choose not to watch or go to games that’s their choice. The government (especially federal government) should stay out of it. It’s entirely possible to disagree with a decision a private business makes without thinking the government needs to do something about it.

    Collapse
    1. Anonymous

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Jen

        I don’t know that it’s great news for either side. I’d like to believe most Americans are fed up with everything becoming a culture war that politicians pander over. If only the silent majority would stand up and yell ‘enough’!

        Collapse
  6. Les Watkins

    I dont understand why the piece glosses over the “State Election Board” Section”, as Sterling puts it, which is the least defensible part of the bill, but which is also the part which damns the whole thing. Had it been in effect during the election, does anyone doubt that the efforts of Sterling and his boss to hold the line against the Trumpist misinfo campaign would have failed due to the efforts of the rural-controlled GA legislature? This part if the bill makes plainly clear the reasons for it, leaving aside the other, debatable “reforms”.

    Collapse
  7. Kurt Von Fuchs

    Can you please explain the following… But one thing I don’t know if I could express to your readers enough ... is in the Republican base, the level of anger, and fear, and sorrow, and despair.” The left is often correctly accused of looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. It seems like the Republicans are doing the same thing now.

    Collapse
  8. Howie S.

    I am so glad you all covered the Georgia election law. I think it would be helpful to discuss the backlash that has erupted from he law. It seems to me this is a coordinated political effort that started in GA and has now spread. The bullying of companies and the MLB (my opinion) is part of the coordinated campaign that is getting the predictable assistance of the media.

    Collapse
  9. Ljordan500

    I did not think this treatment of the Georgia bill was as clear eyed and complete a treatment of the topic as I usually find in the Dispatch.

    Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Dennis

    I get it now: MLB is an anagram for BLM. Thanks, Manfred, you spineless twerp.

    Collapse
Load More