Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp dismisses corporate reaction to election law

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has dismissed corporate backlash against election legislation he signed Wednesday afternoon to CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

The governor last week signed a GOP-backed election bill that civil rights advocates say disproportionately harms voters of color. The legislation adds new identification requirements to absentee voting, limits ballot boxes and prohibits offering food or water to voters online, among other provisions.

“I’m happy to take care of it,” Kemp said, referring to the reaction of business leaders in Georgia and the United States to the voting law. “If they want to have a debate on the merits and the facts of the bill, then we should do it.”

Kemp’s comments come after prominent black business executives urged U.S. business leaders to oppose restrictive election legislation after the election law was passed in Georgia.

“Businesses have to stand up. There is no middle ground,” Ken Chenault, former CEO of American Express and one of the first black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company, said Wednesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”.

Merck CEO Ken Frazier on “Squawk Box” said: “Free and fair voting has never been a partisan issue. It is a fundamental constitutional right.”

A number of companies released statements Wednesday following Chenault and Frazier’s interview.

“I would encourage these CEOs to take a look at the other states in which they do business and compare the real facts in Georgia,” Kemp said.

The governor pointed to provisions in the legislation such as increasing in-person early voting hours in most counties in Georgia as examples of why Republicans believe the bill expands voter access.

Earlier in March, civil rights groups called on big companies headquartered in Georgia to unequivocally oppose voting restrictions proposed by the state legislature. Defenders have targeted six large companies – Aflac, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Home Depot, Southern Company and UPS – with protests, phone banks and campaigns in the local press and on social media.

Businesses responded with broad statements about a fair and secure election without taking a direct position on the bills in the weeks before Kemp signed the new law. Following the passage of the law, some voting rights advocates threatened to boycott Georgia-based companies.

Coca-Cola responded to the passage of the bill last week with a statement on access to the vote and the integrity of elections without taking a position on the law. In a statement on Monday, Coca-Cola executive Alfredo Rivera said the company was “disappointed” with the law.

During CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Wednesday afternoon, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the legislation was “unacceptable” and “a step backwards.”

Delta CEO Ed Bastian in a statement last week said the signed legislation “has improved dramatically over the course of the legislative process.”

In a reversal on Wednesday, Bastian lambasted Georgia’s new electoral law, calling it “unacceptable”.

“After having had the time to now fully understand everything that is in the bill, coupled with discussions with leaders and employees of the black community, it is evident that the bill includes provisions that will make more difficult for many under-represented voters, especially black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. This is wrong, ”Bastian said in a memo Wednesday morning.

In a statement earlier Wednesday to CNBC, Kemp defended the law and specifically attacked Delta’s chief executive.

“Today’s statement from Delta CEO Ed Bastian contrasts sharply with our conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new law and unfortunately continues to propagate the same bogus attacks repeated by partisan activists,” he said. said Kemp.

“Mr Bastian is expected to compare Georgia’s voting laws – which include no-excuse postal voting, online voter registration, 17 days of early voting with two optional extra Sundays, and automatic voter registration during of obtaining a driver’s license – with other states Delta Airlines operates, ”he added.

The election law debate comes amid a wave of Republicans-backed electoral restrictions proposed in state legislatures across the country. The Brennan Center for Justice has tracked 253 bills in 43 states with provisions that would restrict access to the vote as of February 19.

Widespread voter fraud conspiracy theories led to violent pro-Trump rioters storming the Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The deadly insurgency came after Republican leaders, including former President Donald Trump, continually spread allegations that mail and early voting lead to widespread electoral fraud, despite the lack of evidence of a such fraud.

– CNBC Kevin stankiewicz, Jessica bursztynsky and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.