In lieu of your regularly scheduled newsletter today, we'll be hosting a chat for readers about our recent reporting on voter suppression bills in Georgia, Arizona, and elsewhere. But instead of using the comments section, as we've done previously, this will be an audio chat on Twitter Spaces. It starts at 10:30 AM Eastern. Here is how to participate:

1. Make sure you have the Twitter app on your phone

2. Follow @juddlegum

3. At 10:30 AM Eastern, open the app and you should see a glowing purple circle in the upper left corner. Click the purple circle to join the chat. 

It will look something like this:

Once you are in, if you want to ask a question or make a comment, you can request to speak by clicking the microphone at the bottom left of the chat window.

If you are reading this after the chat ended or don't use Twitter, don't worry. You can leave your comment or question the old fashioned way by clicking the button at the bottom of this newsletter. We'll make sure to read them all and respond to as many as we can. 

Before we start, here are a few important updates on what's happening in Georgia:

1.Home Depot and Coca-Cola are equivocating. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce recently expressed "concern and opposition" to Georgia's proposed voter restrictions. On Sunday, Home Depot told Popular Information that it was "aligned" with the Georgia Chamber's view. On Monday, Coca-Cola said the same thing to the Washington Post. As a result, the Washington Post then reported that both companies were opposed to the voter suppression bills moving through the Georgia legislature. Home Depot, however, later contacted the Washington Post to "clarify that being 'aligned' with the Chamber doesn't mean they're opposed to the proposed voter restrictions." Coca-Cola made a similar comment to a reporter with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Home Depot and Coca-Cola's position doesn't make sense and it's clear that the companies are trying to have it both ways.

2.Salesforce becomes the first major corporation to unequivocally oppose the voter suppression bills in Georgia. The enterprise software company has a major presence in Atlanta, where it employs hundreds of people. The company announced its opposition on Twitter.

Salesforce @salesforce

A person’s right to cast their ballot is the foundation of our democracy. Georgia HB 531 would limit trustworthy, safe & equal access to voting by restricting early voting & eliminating provisional ballots. That’s why Salesforce opposes HB 531 as it stands. #gapol 🗳️

March 16th 2021

277 Retweets949 Likes

3. A theory on why some corporations are so reluctant to speak out. Why are so many companies that purport to support voting rights so hesitant to oppose these bills? Greg Blustein makes an important observation in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Georgia’s CEO crowd also needs no reminder of what happened in 2018, when then-Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle blocked a lucrative tax break for Delta after the airline enraged conservatives by ending a group discount for the National Rifle Association. (The $35 million annual incentive was later revived.)

In other words, these companies may be worried about the financial implications of supporting voting rights in Georgia. 

We will discuss all of this and more at 10:30 AM Eastern on Twitter Spaces. Hope to see you there!

Support Accountability Journalism