# Why Bottoms says Georgia's voting access is at risk

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/why-bottoms-says-georgias-voting-access-is-at-risk/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Keisha Lance Bottoms](https://realalpha.app/people/keisha-lance-bottoms/) · Keisha Lance Bottoms is a former mayor of Atlanta and Democratic nominee for Georgia governor. · Steered Atlanta through the pandemic and secured major affordable-housing investments as its 60th mayor.
- Host: [Jon Favreau](https://realalpha.app/people/jon-favreau/)
- Host: [Dan Pfeiffer](https://realalpha.app/people/dan-pfeiffer/)
- Host: [Jon Lovett](https://realalpha.app/people/jon-lovett/)
- Show: Pod Save America
- Episode: [Trump Blasts FAKE POLLS As His Approval Rating PLUMMETS](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/), Oct 23, 2026
- Moment: 1:19:15 to 1:23:00 of the episode (4 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/why-bottoms-says-georgias-voting-access-is-at-risk/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4755

## Quote

> “We've had our **drop boxes removed**. We've had the window for early voting reduced. We've seen hundreds of thousands of people purge from the voting rolls.”
> — [Keisha Lance Bottoms](https://realalpha.app/people/keisha-lance-bottoms/) at [1:21:06](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4866) · Pod Save America

## Takeaways

1. Bottoms says Georgia removed drop boxes and shortened early voting.
2. She says hundreds of thousands of voters were purged from the rolls.
3. She warns that the governor's certification role leaves few safeguards.

## About this segment

Keisha Lance Bottoms says Georgia has narrowed voting access through fewer drop boxes, a shorter early-voting window and voter-roll purges. She argues the governor's election-certification role makes the race consequential.

From “Trump Blasts FAKE POLLS As His Approval Rating PLUMMETS”, Oct 23, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[1:19:27](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4767) Voting has already begun. And your opponent has embraced Trump, tried to distance from Trump, but through it all has, again, it's hard to pin down, but has embraced the 2020 election conspiracy theories. First of all, can you just talk about the kind of shenanigans that you could see in Georgia and how you're protecting against them? And then also the risk of having somebody that has embraced Donald Trump in charge of Georgia in a presidential election.

[1:20:03](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4803) This guy has said that that Trump's going to love him as governor. So what that means in Georgia is that if Trump were to make that call, fine me 11,000, however many votes, he would answer it. It's dangerous. Already, as we sit here today, 260 FBI agents have been dispatched into Fulton County trying to find some mythical narrative around the 2020 election. This guy, in the one and only debate that he showed up for when I said that he said the National Guard would be called in, said he didn't say it.

[1:20:45](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4845) Again, I don't know if he's lying. Well, no, he's not telling the truth. Maybe he doesn't remember he said it. We've heard the tape where he said the National Guard will be called in. So it is. And just to remind people, Georgia's been on this path for a while. So when people were standing in line last week and it was 85 degrees in Georgia, you could go to jail. for giving someone a bottle of water in Georgia.

[1:21:12](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4872) You could be charged criminally for giving someone a bottle of water. We've had our drop boxes removed. We've had the window for early voting reduced. We've seen hundreds of thousands of people purge from the voting rolls. So it's, you know, Audre Lorde said, revolution is not a one-time event. This has been gradual. And if this guy is in office, there will be no safeguards in terms of leadership because the governor has to certify the election.

[1:21:48](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4908) And it's it's frightening, not just as a candidate, but as someone who lives in the state that this is we were we are the cradle of the civil rights movement in America. Congressman John Lewis was my congressman. Ambassador Young is still very vocal about the sanctity of access to the right to vote, that this is what's facing us as a state. And I was with Ambassador Young a couple of weeks ago, and I don't think I've ever seen him emotional.

[1:22:21](https://realalpha.app/v/tafCtMEphVo/?t=4941) I was speaking at a church. He stood up to speak and talked about voting, and twice during his remarks, he was visibly emotional. And I can only imagine for someone like him who lived this, who fought for it, who bled for it, just—I'm sure it's upsetting and frightening, and it should be to all of us.