Officials with the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) this week announced they will start spending nearly three times as much money than usual — nearly $100 million — on voter outreach throughout the Deep South, including Georgia.
SPLC officials said in a press release that they will partner with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA) and spend that money in other southern states as well. Those states include Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, SPLC officials said.
CFGA spokeswoman Elyse Hammett told The Georgia Star News that the group will use the money to track what she called “ongoing barriers to getting out to vote.”
“We did not choose the states – the SPLC chose those states,” Hammett said via email.
“The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta only operates in Georgia, but we can administer the grants for SPLC to the states of their choosing.”
The SPLC press release said “voter suppression tactics are escalating,” particularly in Florida and Georgia.
SPLC officials also said they will spend this money to train new political leaders throughout the South to carry out their objectives.
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