Demand Democracy, Reject Fascism

Atlanta DSA Statement on the November 2022 Elections

The stakes of the November 2022 elections are high, and the outcome could jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of working people across the state and country. The GOP is an anti-worker, anti-Black, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-queer reactionary force which aims to dismantle abortion, voting, and other fundamental rights for working people with the goal of generating power and profits for the billionaire elite. For this reason we encourage our members, supporters and the public to vote in this year’s elections to defeat the Republican Party and their far-right agenda.

Both locally and federally, GOP electoral success this November would empower the Republican party to escalate their attacks on marginalized communities, further expand the police state, and suppress democratic elections. With the increasing hegemony of the MAGA right within the Republican party, their reactionary agenda could go as far as banning abortion nationwide, stifling labor unions with a federal right-to-work law, and rejecting the 2024 election results. With so many of our rights on the line, we must do all we can to keep Republicans out of government.

At the same time, the Democratic party serves many of the same corporate interests as the Republicans. The Democrats have done close to nothing to curb the expansion of far-right MAGA ideology, codify the right to abortion into law, get corporate money out of politics, or protect the right to organize at work. DSA remains committed to advancing a socialist political alternative to neoliberalism by challenging corporate Democrats from the left through community organizing and primary elections. While recognizing these differences, we must fight back against the white supremacist right wing, and not ignore the threat that their terror presents. Abstention from the electoral terrain in the name of purity politics won’t advance our goals: we should not cede any ground to the far-right.

To combat the GOP and their far-right agenda, we encourage everyone eligible to vote to use that power this November by confirming their voter registration status, making a plan to vote early, and voting up and down the ballot for the most left-wing candidates. Although we are not endorsing any specific candidates this cycle, Atlanta DSA is organizing around key election issues like abortion rights and mobilizing our members and supporters to vote. We call on our allies to prepare to mobilize to demand democracy in case the far right tries again to invalidate or deny the election results. In the name of free and fair elections, we’ll be ready to hit the streets and join the working-class majority in demanding that every vote be counted.

As Democratic Socialists, we recognize that voting is only one of many tactics in the fight to win our long-term goal: a free, democratic, and equitable society run by and for the multiracial working class. The crisis of democracy in the US is not just an electoral contest but a centuries-long class struggle between working people and the capitalists, landlords, and right-wing politicians who profit from our exploitation. To win a Democratic Socialist society, we must rebuild the labor movement, expand working-class consciousness, and build a mass party capable of uniting working people. Beyond this election season, Atlanta DSA will continue the struggle to organize our workplaces and reclaim abortion rights. We invite all those who agree with our aims to not only join us in voting this November, but to also get involved in our work building a socialist movement that can create a truly democratic society.

Find your polling place and make a plan to vote early at atldsa.org/vote

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