Recently, the state of Georgia has passed an entirely new slew of laws and legislation restricting and adjusting various aspects of voting and elections. Civil Rights groups have condemned these laws stating that they are “racist” and “undemocratic.” While political figures on the right have stated that it’s a step in the right direction, former President Trump believes it was “too weak.”

Looking at the specific legislation, one part pointed out is the decision to limit ballot boxes to 1 per 100,000 people. This causes the number of ballot boxes in more populated-more blue leaning-areas to shrink their number of ballot boxes up to 75% compared to what they had in the 2020 elections.

Another part criticized, was the limitation of “election buses” to only be used for emergencies. Election buses were a public service that would tour around more populated cities to bring the ballots to voters that had difficulty getting to a polling station.

The most talked-about section of the legislation was the inclusion to make giving a person waiting in line to vote food or water a misdemeanor if you are not specifically a poll worker. Once again, most of the long lines that required people to have food and water were in more populated areas. See a trend?

Corporations such as Coca-Cola (located in Atlanta, Georgia), Major League Baseball, and Delta Airlines have also condemned these new laws, earning Coca-Cola the nickname on the right, “Woka-Cola.” But these statements have not exactly earned great publicity from the rest of the political spectrum either. Many have called these corporations out on paying little to no federal taxes in recent years, due to large tax cuts and bailouts made by republican congresspersons. Others have criticized their corrupt and exploitative business practices.

It begs the question: Is it beneficial to the democratic process for these mega-corporations to voice their opinions on the restrictive laws? It seems these days the only time change is brought is when rich people complain. It’s difficult to tell whether or not this will actually do anything though, as Republican politicians have already shown their discontent with what these corporations have said.

And while I appreciate the sentiment they are trying to bring, it leaves a poor taste in your mouth knowing that if change is brought, it was only because money was involved- not people’s civil rights being on the line or not.