Coca-Cola boycotted over Georgia voting rights bill
Activists in Georgia are organising a boycott of Coca-Cola Co. for not opposing a voting rights bill making its way through the state legislature.
The activists want to see the company - one of Georgia's largest and most well known - condemn a Republican- led bill that would limit voter access.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with members of the AME Sixth Episcopal District, who said they were going to launch the boycott of the company's products until they publicly condemn the bill.
The legislation would enact new voter ID laws and change the time frame for voters to submit their ballots.
Bishop Reginald Jackson said "we will speak with our wallets," and called out the company for not fulfilling its promise to speak out about racial injustice issues.
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"This past summer, Coke and other corporations said they needed to speak out against racism. But they’ve been mighty quiet about this,” he said.
The bishop said if the company wants the support of his community, it needs to stand up for their rights to participate in democracy.
“If Coca-Cola wants Black and brown people to drink their product, then they must speak up when our rights, our lives and our very democracy as we know it is under attack,” he said.
A prior version of the legislation included a move to end early voting on Sunday, which the bishop said was intended to block Black voters from getting to the polls. He said that traditionally Black churches would use services on Sunday to mobilise voters and get them to the polls following church services.
Last week, the state GOP dropped its plan to stop early voting on Sunday.
Coca-Cola Co said it was supportive of "a balanced approach to the elections bills that have been introduced in the Georgia Legislature this session," in a statement to the paper.
"The ultimate goal should be fair, secure elections where access to voting is broad-based and inclusive,” the company said.
The company has not issued an official statement beyond what was given to the paper, however it did say it was "aligned" with the state's chamber of commerce in its concerns about the legislation.
The chamber of commerce statement said it "supports accessible and secure voting while upholding election integrity and transparency. Simply put, we believe that it should be easy to vote, hard to commit fraud and that Georgians should have faith and confidence in secure, accessible, and fair elections."
The House will vote on the legislation on Thursday, and the state's legislature will have to agree on a finalised version of the bill Wednesday.
