FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 Wednesday, May 13, 2026

CONTACT: press@keishaforgovernor.com

Keisha Lance Bottoms Announces Democracy First Agenda to Protect Georgians’ Voting Rights

Keisha’s Plan Will Establish New Protections for Voting Rights at the State Level, Protect Election Workers, Restore Trust in Election Administration, and Expand Voting Access

ATLANTA — Democratic candidate for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms held a roundtable in Atlanta today with voting rights advocates, former state legislators, and civil rights leaders to announce her plan to make Georgia a national leader in protecting voting rights. Bottoms also discussed how she will veto racially discriminatory voting maps.

Bottoms’ Democracy First Agenda will establish the Johnson-Lewis Voting Rights Act to end voter suppression, create a Georgia Voting Rights Commission, boost election transparency, and defend fair maps. Her plan will also eliminate and replace the dysfunctional State Election Board and replace it with an oversight body filled with members with real expertise in election administration, voting rights, law, and voter protection.

As governor, Bottoms will also protect election workers, by strengthening penalties for attacks on election workers and protecting their personal information from being weaponized. Additionally, Bottoms will expand access to voting for more eligible Georgians by making Election Day a state holiday and establishing same-day voter registration, expanding early voting, including evenings and weekends, expanding acceptable voter ID, and removing barriers for returning citizens to vote.

“Today, we are introducing a Georgia voting rights plan. We've seen this gradual peeling back of our access to the right to vote,” said Bottoms. “The democracy that we have today is because of people like John Lewis, people like Senator Lenoir Johnson, they fought the good fight. Now this battle belongs to us. While we may see threats to our voting rights from the federal and state level, we can fight back and protect our voting rights.”

Read more on Keisha’s Democracy First Agenda:

• Create the Johnson-Lewis Voting Rights Act

  • Taking direct aim at rules and tactics that make it harder for eligible Georgians to register, vote, and have their ballots counted.
    
    

  • Stopping politicians from drawing unfair districts or changing election systems in ways that weaken, split apart, or drown out communities’ voices.
    
    

  • Prohibiting rules, maps, procedures, or election systems that deny equal access to the ballot or weaken fair participation.
    
    

  • Creating an independent Georgia Voting Rights Commission to serve as a statewide watchdog for free and fair elections.
    
    

  • Expanding translated materials and voter assistance for language-minority communities.
    
    

  • Holding accountable anyone who uses intimidation, deception, harassment, or obstruction to interfere with the right to vote.
    
    

  • Creating a publicly available, centralized election data repository and requires local governments to provide advance notice before changing election rules or practices.
    
    

  • Establishing the principle that courts should favor broad access, equal participation, and protection of the right to vote.
    
    

  • Giving both the government and individual voters the power to bring cases in state court when voting rights are threatened.
    
    

  • Making clear that Georgia will not allow politicians to use redistricting to turn back the clock on civil rights.
    
    

• Eliminate the dysfunctional State Election Board
  

  • Working with the General Assembly to eliminate the State Election Board and replace it with a new oversight body will have members with real expertise in election administration, voting rights, law, public integrity, local government, cybersecurity, accessibility, and voter protection.

• Protect Election Workers and Election Integrity

  • Strengthening penalties for attacks on election workers, protects personal information from being weaponized, and provides support for counties to recruit, train, and retain the workers who keep our elections running.

  • Providing state funding for county election administration, voter education, poll worker recruitment, training, technology, security, language access, and accessibility for voters with disabilities.

• Expand Access to the Ballot Box

  • Making Election Day a state holiday to give more workers, parents, caregivers, students, and seniors the time they need to vote.
    
    

  • Establishing same-day voter registration to help eligible Georgians who miss a deadline, recently moved, changed their name, or discover too late that there is a problem with their registration.
    
    

  • Requiring meaningful evening and weekend voting options so voters in every county have a fair chance to participate.
    
    

  • Making voter registration easier, more modern, and more accessible by expanding automatic voter registration beyond the Department of Driver Services.
    
    

  • Expanding the list of acceptable identification so voters are not blocked simply because they do not have one narrow form of ID.
    
    

  • Requiring the state to notify every eligible returning citizen when their voting rights have been restored, provide voter registration materials after release, and create a simple process for people to confirm their eligibility.
    
    

  • Requiring better coordination among the Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, probation offices, county registrars, and the Secretary of State so eligible Georgians are not blocked by bureaucracy, bad information, or outdated records.
    
    

  • Supporting restoring voting rights to Georgians upon release from incarceration, so people who are living, working, paying taxes, raising families, and rebuilding their lives in our communities have a voice in the decisions that affect them.
    
    

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