'They're afraid of the voters': Pelosi rails against 'incompetence' and voter suppression in Georgia as dark prelude to November

Suppressing the vote is 'all part of the republican playbook,' speaker alleges

Speaker Nancy Pelosi lit into Republicans on Thursday for the hours-long lines, broken voting machines, and understaffed polling places that plagued the primary elections in Georgia this week.

"What we saw in Georgia the other day was shameful. It was either a disgrace of incompetence or a disgrace of intention to suppress the vote," Ms Pelosi told reporters on Thursday.

With waits that dragged on for hours to cast a ballot, voting machines that did not work, inadequately trained staff, extended polling times, and widespread claims of voter suppression — all against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic — outside commenters have described Georgia’s primary election as “chaos” and a “hot mess."

Predominantly minority counties were especially hard hit.

"It looks like part of a pattern" of traditional GOP voter suppression in the state, Ms Pelosi said, adding that neglecting voting precincts in parts of the state with minority communities is "all part of the republican playbook because they're afraid of the voters. They're afraid of the vote."

Georgia has been a hot spot in recent years for allegations that Republican leaders in the state have sought to suppress the black vote.

In 2018, the Republican nominee for governor, then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, was in charge of running his own election against Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams.

Before the election, Mr Kemp's office wrongfully flagged more than 300,000 Georgia residents as ineligible to vote, and delayed the registrations of 53,000 voters without properly notifying them.

Mr Kemp eventually won the election by less than 55,000 votes out of nearly 4m cast — a 2 per cent margin.

In an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, Ms Abrams, who has become a national spokeswoman for a campaign to expand voting opportunities this November, said that Georgia has seen this kind of voter suppression before, but that Tuesday was “the most egregious example” of it.

“It didn't simply happen in Democratic strongholds, it happened across the state. Because one of the problems with voter suppression, with the incompetence and malfeasance we see in the secretary of state's office in Georgia, is that while the target may be communities of colour ... it hits everyone,” Ms Abrams said. “The long lines happened mostly in the urban areas, but we had to see extensions in Democratic and Republican areas, including in the area represented by the Republican speaker of the house.”

She added: “This is a complete meltdown and failure of the secretary of state's office.”

Ms Pelosi said the problems in Georgia this week underscored the need for Senate Republicans to work with Democrats to send more money to states to secure their elections and bolster the efficiency of voting processes before November.

The House's $3trn coronavirus relief package passed last month included $3.6bn in funding for elections assistance to states.

Democrats have publicly urged more states to adopt measures to make it easier to vote by mail in light of health concerns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, which has resurged in many states over the last several days.

Ms Pelosi warned that Americans must not relent on public safety measures this summer.

"Real men wear masks, we always say," the speaker said. "If you're going to insist on leaving shelter in place, do so safely — masks, distancing. Also testing, tracing, treating."