Oconee Legislators Mum On Proposed State Election Law Changes

Oconee GA

08 March, 2021

2:09 AM

Description

Houston Gaines and Marcus Wiedower, who represent Oconee County in the Georgia House of Representatives, ended their Legislative Rundown column in The Oconee Enterprise on March 4 with this invitation. "Constituent feedback is critical in decision making on all legislation," they write. "As always, please reach out to us anytime." The pair's weekly columns in the paper all end in a similar refrain and contain Gaines' and Wiedower's official email addresses and sometimes their telephone numbers. But it turns out Gaines and Wiedower are not interested in communicating with voters about one key issue before the General Assembly: proposed changes in the state's voting laws. At a time when legislation–most of it Republican generated–is dropping like rain in a heavy storm in the state Capitol, and the pair has voted in favor of one of those bills restricting voting, they are all but ignoring the issue in their columns. And they have refused to answer questions on their views on the need for election law changes, on their votes for the Bill passed by the House, and on the integrity of elections in November in Oconee County, their districts, and the state. For more on this story, please go to Oconee County Observations.