ProGeorgia CEO, Tamieka Atkins, discusses challenges and opportunities of 2024 presidential election in Georgia

Tamieka Atkins, the Executive Director of ProGeorgia, has registered more than 250,000 Georgia residents vote since 2012. She also has mobilized more than 2.5 million people during that time frame. However, Atkins reveals the challenges and complexities of the 2024 Presidential Election in the Peach State. ProGeorgia is a bold and diverse collaborative that champions an equitable and inclusive democracy, for and with traditionally underrepresented communities. ProGeorgia supports and coordinates the civic engagement programs of their diverse partner organizations.She emphasized the importance of sustained voter engagement beyond election day, criticizing the tendency to overhype elections as magic solutions. Atkins says participating in a democracy n is not a one time thing. She stresses people must get into the habit of voting as either the beginning or the culmination of a year-long effort.“Where we go wrong is selling this election – or any election – as if all of the problems are going to be fixed,” explains Atkins.  “Where we tell them, if you just cast this one ballot, everything will magically be better. I believe that is a big part of the disenfranchisement.  Because, what happens if you tell people ‘tomorrow your life will be better’, and their life does...