Five Questions with Fair Fight CEO Cianti Stewart-Reid
It's always time to fight for the rights of our fellow citizens to vote
Fair Fight is a national voting rights organization that was founded in Georgia in 2018 by Stacey Abrams to address voter suppression. Abrams, a Democrat, had been a member of the Georgia House of Representatives since 2007, and was the minority leader from 2011 to 2017. In 2018 she lost the race to be governor to Brian Kemp in an election that garnered national attention because of difficulties some Georgians encountered when they tried to vote. You doubtless remember video of exceptionally long lines in polling places where students voted, for instance. Kemp, who was serving as Secretary of State while running for Governor, refused to step aside from overseeing the race in which he himself was on the ballot.
Fair Fight grew to national prominence for its work in Georgia elections, but their mission today is to “promote fair elections around the country, encourage voter participation in elections, and educate voters about elections and their voting rights,” in light of the “voter suppression, particularly of voters of color and young voters,” that is a problem across the nation. In addition to its work to mobilize and educate voters, Fair Fight has also become involved in litigating voting rights cases. That’s why we turn to them tonight. Fair Fight’s Executive Director, Cianti Stewart-Reid, is our guest for “Five Questions With” tonight at the end of a week when Fair Fight began a trial in federal court in Georgia against a Texas-based group, True the Vote, that they say tried to intimidate thousands of Georgians so they would be afraid to exercise their right to vote during the 2021 Senate runoff elections that ultimately led to two Democrats, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, becoming Georgia’s senators.
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