Georgia voters are split over how to strengthen democracy

Election-interference charges against Donald Trump in Atlanta, after his claims of fraud in 2020, make the issue of ‘democracy’ more salient — and more divisive.

Americans in this closely divided state have heard perhaps more than others about allegations of rigged elections and threats to democracy. Georgia’s 2020 election results were deeply contested, and state voting laws have been fiercely debated ever since.

But the notion that democracy might be on the line this fall means different things to Republican and Democratic voters, according to recent interviews The Wall Street Journal conducted for its “Chasing the Vote” podcast series.

Democrats here say Donald Trump is a threat to norms in American politics, pointing to his conduct after the 2020 election, particularly in Georgia. Republicans point to the same election and say Democrats are changing the fabric of the country, including by abetting widespread fraud in elections, though there is no evidence of that.

After visiting more than a dozen houses to pass out her campaign literature, Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark met Jose Samaniego. The 73-year-old Ecuadorean immigrant said he had voted for Republicans prior to Trump and will back Vice President Kamala Harris because of his concerns about Trump.

Other Republicans remain committed to the former president, who they said not only doesn’t represent any threat to democratic norms, but will do a better job than Harris on handling the southern border and the economy. South of Atlanta at a Congress, Cognac, and Cigars event, two Black GOP members of the House of Representatives made the case for Trump’s policies to a smoky room full of voters.

Allyn James, a 58-year-old Republican, said that her main issue is the higher cost of goods and services and that she will vote again for Trump.

Keith Tolbert, a 60-year-old airline pilot, has long backed Republicans. He said rhetoric about democracy being on the line was a “Democratic mantra.” President Biden won the state of Georgia in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes out of about five million cast. The close finish has prompted allegations of fraud, which haven’t been supported by evidence, and Republican-backed changes to the state’s election laws.

Trump pushed false claims of voter fraud in Georgia and pressured Republican officials to help him secure the state’s Electoral College votes, according to an indictment unsealed last year by prosecutors in Atlanta. The former president has pleaded not guilty and says the charges are political. A judge later threw out some of the counts against him.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, was in office in 2020 and publicly rebuked Trump’s claims that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the election. Duncan has endorsed Harris.

Georgia has become more politically competitive as Atlanta has boomed. Suburban areas such as Gwinnett County have grown more diverse. Within the city limits, new development has cropped up around the BeltLine, a new urban trail.

Gina Palmer opened She Salon two decades ago in the Castleberry Hill neighbourhood, which includes redeveloped warehouses southwest of downtown. On a recent visit, all of her clients said they were excited to vote for Harris and would never support Trump because of his conduct while in office and after the last election.

Dow Jones