Resolution 210044

..Title Honoring and recognizing Stacey Abrams for her leadership as the founder of Fair Fight Action and The New Georgia Project, and her achievement in fighting voter suppression. ..Body WHEREAS, Stacey Abrams is an American politician who served as a Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017; and WHEREAS, In 2018, Abrams was told at her polling place that she could not cast her ballot because records showed she had already voted. This incident is representative of the suppression that millions of voters face each year; and WHEREAS, In the 2018 run for governor between Abrams and Brian Kemp, Kemp was accused of seeking to suppress minority voters. He also had a history of enforcing some of the nation's most restrictive voting laws as secretary of state; and WHEREAS, Following this election, Abrams founded Fair Fight Action and has now spent years strategizing and organizing to ensure Georgians have their voices heard in all elections, and that Democrats pay attention to Georgia; and WHEREAS, Abrams' organization, The New Georgia Project, has reached and registered hundreds of thousands of potential new voters in churches, college campuses, and neighborhoods; and WHEREAS, Abrams' organization, Fair Fight Action, has funded and trained voter protection teams in 20 battleground states while educating young and minority voters on elections and their voter rights; and WHEREAS, In the 2020 Presidential election, Fair Fight Action and The New Georgia Project together successfully helped register over 800,000 Georgians to vote, educated millions about the integrity of mail-in ballots and early voting, and led "get out the vote" efforts; and WHEREAS, Abrams, Black Voters Matter founder LaTosha Brown, and many Black grassroots organizations led campaigns that resulted in Black voters showing up in record numbers for Georgia's Senate runoff election, flipping the state and reclaiming Democratic control of the Senate; and WHEREAS, Abrams' fight against voter suppression in the 2020 Presidential election was key in protecting Unites States democracy and securing the Georgian electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden; and WHEREAS, Abrams' personal experiences with voter suppression as well as in her 2018 run for governor continue to motivate and inspire action against voter suppression; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it honors and recognizes Stacey Abrams for her leadership as the founder of Fair Fight Action and The New Georgia Project, and her achievement in fighting voter suppression. ..End