Brittni Hamilton is a litigator in DWT's Los Angeles office and helps clients solve complex disputes. But Brittni has politics in her DNA. Before law school she worked for a political consulting firm and also served as an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. Brittni reflects on what voting means to her and why we should all swing back into getting out the vote this November.
For me, it is deeper than restricting water and other acts of human kindness to those standing in line to vote. Instead, Georgia Senate Bill 202 (SB 202), signed into law on March 25, 2021, is simply about making the right to vote an obstacle and, for some, a never-ending battle.
Following the historic turnout of both the November 2020 presidential election and the January 2021 Georgia senate runoff, Georgia legislators decided it was necessary to impose the following restrictions:
- Providing food and water to those waiting in line, if within 150 feet of a polling place, is now a crime.
- Mobile voting units for advance voting can only be used if an emergency is declared by the Governor.
- Rather than having three weeks for advance voting during a runoff election, the period is now one week.
- Georgians have to provide state-issued identification or a copy of a utility bill when requesting an absentee ballot. Before this, voters only needed to provide their current address and their signature. And one may think the identification requirement is a simple ask because everyone should have an I.D., right? I thought this too, until someone explained that voters in rural communities, especially in the South, may not have access to government offices that provide I.D.s or that their livelihoods, up until SB 202, have not required one.
- And among other things, SB 202 cuts the period to request an absentee ballot almost in half. These ballots were a life-saver for some during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, including members of my family.
In 2012, I began my first job out of college working for a boutique political consulting firm named brilliant corners Research & Strategies led by Cornell Belcher. The firm was a pollster for the Obama campaign as well as other political races throughout the country. At the time, I was on fire for politics. My first vote was cast four years earlier when I was a freshman in college. I will never forget the energy that covered UC Berkeley on November 4, 2008. It was electrifying and emotional and I knew that I wanted to be part of the current.
So months before President Obama's re-election in 2012, I got my chance. And, through the polling firm, I came to understand the numbers and messaging behind voter turnout, all that went into it, and how exit polls served as a snapshot of reality and the future. One of the realities was and is that Black women have a history of showing up in strong numbers to vote (in 2020, 66.3% of Black females voted and in 2012, 68.1% voted). And, at the time, I knew the South was becoming more diverse but I never would have guessed that Georgia would go blue eight years later.
Then it happened. As shocked as I was, pride filled me more than anything. In November 2020, I was glued to the news and every time I saw Black women standing in line to vote and carrying key races I thought of my own grandmothers, both Black women born in the bitter South. Yet despite every hardship life and this country threw at them, they were committed to getting things done. They gave what they could. They followed the rules. So when those upset with the outcome of a fair election, created and ran with the headline that the 2020 presidential race was stolen, I found it insulting. Those people reacted to the same voter turnout I saw and declared that the rules no longer applied. That the Black vote did not count.
In all honesty, my interest in politics waned as the 2016 cycle got underway. But after being moved by voter turnout for the 2020 cycle, I was reminded of what once drew me in –- the belief that voting is one of the most powerful tools for change. It has been a privilege to be part of the voting rights work in Georgia through DWT and our partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and NAACP Legal Defense Fund. My admiration for those fully committed to the work continues to grow tremendously, and this includes those who make the time to cast their vote. Without these efforts, I have to ask myself: Where would I be? What access would I have, not only to the ballot, but to an education, a safe job that pays a living wage, a neighborhood I freely choose to live in, certain public restrooms?
As the November midterm elections approach, I want to believe that everyone eligible to vote can think of a cause that is worth turning out for. And if your journey to vote makes you feel encouraged about our political process, I ask that you keep in mind the millions of voters who will no longer have that same experience. Then maybe you take your first, second, or third swing to do what you can, like I have.