Politics

PAC hands out gas gift cards to drum up support for GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker

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Voting rights activists and Democrat lawmakers are speaking out against a move by a Georgia political action committee to give away free gas gift cards in order to garner support for GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

The conservative PAC, “34N22” Tweeted on Saturday, “Big day in Atlanta giving out over $4,000 in free gas! Raphael Warnock and Joe Biden have caused gas prices and inflation to skyrocket. It’s time for a change in the U.S. Senate to help lower costs for every Georgia family—and it’s why we need to elect @HerschelWalker!”

The PAC gathered at a Chevron station near Atlanta and began handing out $25 gift cards for gas to people who agreed to listen to a summary of Walker’s campaign by PAC volunteers.

The move prompted outcry from Democrats and voting rights groups, who have spent recent years railing against voting laws in Georgia that critics say are aimed at disenfranchising Democrat voters and voters of color. “Giving away gas vouchers and Herschel Walker flyers at the same time isn’t legal,” Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen, who’s running for Georgia secretary of state, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Are they going to do something about it?”

However, attorneys for 34N22 say the giveaway falls within legal limits. In order for the gas cards to be considered a bribe, the law says there must be an agreement. If the recipients of the gift cards did not accept them in exchange for a vote for Walker, the tactic is technically legal.

“The vouchers were given without condition; no recipient or prospective recipient was required to vote, to register to vote, to support or oppose any particular candidate, or to appear in advertisements,” the attorney said.

ARTICLE: LAURA SPIVAK

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: THE AUGUSTA PRESS

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