Big companies headquartered in Georgia are slamming the controversial new state voting law, and now some GOP lawmakers are calling for a boycott of brands.
A April 3 letter to Kevin Perry, president of the Georgia Beverage Association, members of the Georgia House Republican Caucus called for the removal of all Coca-Cola products from an office. Eight GOP lawmakers signed the memo.
Coca-Cola was one of the first Georgia-based companies to publicly condemn Senate Bill 202. James Quincy, CEO of the company, said the law “does not promote the principles we stand for in Georgia regarding broad access to the vote, convenience of voters, guaranteed elections, integrity, ”in an interview with CNBC, according to the Washington Post.
The owners of three professional Atlanta sports teams – the Falcons, Hawks and Dream – have also issued statements criticizing the new law, The Post reported. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the law was “built on a lie”. And Major League Baseball responded last week by moving the All-Star game out of Atlanta.
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Former President Donald Trump and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel have both publicly criticized MLB for its move and called on its supporters to do the same.
“Boycott baseball and all the awakened businesses that interfere with free and fair elections,” Trump said in a statement.
Friday, Representative Jeff Duncan, RS.C. announced plans to begin drafting legislation to remove MLB’s federal exception to antitrust laws.
“An overwhelming bipartisan majority of Americans support the requirement of ID to vote, and any organization that abuses its power to oppose a secure election deserves closer scrutiny under the law,” Duncan said written in a Twitter thread.
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Georgia Republicans also tried to reverse a tax break for Delta Air Lines in a recent legislative session, but that move was thwarted by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who never raised the measure for a vote , according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The new voting law instituted sweeping changes to electoral protocols, including identity requirements and a shortened application period for postal ballots, an almost total ban on mobile voting buses for early voting and criminalizing the supply of food or drink to waiting voters.
At an April 3 press conference, Gov. Brian Kemp berated business owners who criticized the voting law, according to AJC.
“Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola and Delta might be scared of Stacey Abrams and Joe Biden and the left, but I’m not,” he said.
