Paul Miller retired in the spring of 2024 and now devotes his time to strengthening election integrity in Fulton County. He has served as a poll worker, deputy registrar, poll watcher, and as an observer at the Fulton County Election Hub in Union City. Paul helps educate voters through the FCRP Election Integrity Newsletter and contributes practical insights from the field to support smoother, more trusted elections.

In retirement, Paul also works at the Atlanta Braves Clubhouse Store at Truist Park, where he enjoys talking with fans from around the world about baseball — and often, Georgia’s election reforms.

How I Became Involved in Election Integrity — Debunking the Myth of Jim Crow 2.0

When I retired in the spring of 2024, I wanted to put my time to good use. I’ve always believed strong communities depend on civic involvement, so I began volunteering in election work. Over the past year, I’ve served as a poll worker, deputy registrar, poll watcher, and as an observer at the Fulton County Election Hub in Union City.

Seeing elections up close — how ballots are checked, how machines are tested, how workers handle issues — was eye-opening. It showed me how much effort goes into running clean, orderly elections, and how far removed that reality is from the headlines.

Around this time, I also took on an unexpected “retirement job”: working at the Atlanta Braves Clubhouse Store at Truist Park. Fans from all over the world come through, and surprisingly often, conversations drift toward 2021 — when Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta over Georgia’s election law.

Those conversations became the spark for this reflection. Because what people heard in 2021 — and what actually happened afterward — are two very different stories.

What Critics Claimed in 2021

When Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act (SB 202), critics warned it would suppress minority voters.

• President Biden called it “Jim Crow 2.0.”

• Stacey Abrams echoed that language.

• Activists accused the state of disenfranchisement.

• Major League Baseball moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

The national narrative was loud and simple:
Georgia’s new rules were going to make it harder for Black voters to cast a ballot.

But what happened next told a different story.

What Actually Happened: Turnout Surged

The data tells a completely different story.

2022 Results

• Early voting increased 212% over 2018

• 873,000 Black voters cast early ballots — a record

• 99% of all voters rated their experience excellent or good

Those aren’t the numbers of a suppressed electorate.
They’re the numbers of an engaged one.

Subsequent Elections Showed the Same Pattern

In 2024:

• 3.7 million early in-person votes

• Nearly 285,000 absentee ballots

• 4,051,758 early votes total

• Black voters again cast over 1 million early ballots

The dire predictions simply did not materialize.

Players in the Big Lie Game

Player	2021 Claim	What Happened Afterward	Where Things Stand Now
Joe Biden	Called the law “Jim Crow 2.0”	Minority turnout surged; voter satisfaction strong	Narrative collapsing under the data
Stacey Abrams	Warned of widespread suppression	New Georgia Project fined $300K for ethics violations	Out of the spotlight
Raphael Warnock	Led NGP board during key period	Distancing himself from NGP failures	Still facing questions
Jon Ossoff	Echoed suppression concerns	Georgia elections saw high participation	Facing separate political headwinds

Meanwhile, the Braves went on to win the 2021 World Series, and the All-Star Game eventually returned to Atlanta — a fitting coda to the storyline.

Debunking the Myth of Jim Crow 2.0

Serving in election roles gave me a firsthand look at how Georgia elections actually function. The system isn’t perfect — and that’s exactly why citizen involvement matters — but one claim from 2021 simply didn’t match what happened in the years that followed.

The accusation was that the Election Integrity Act would make it harder for people, especially minority voters, to cast a ballot. That was the core of the “Jim Crow 2.0” narrative.

But Georgia voters disproved that.

• Turnout didn’t fall. It rose.

• Minority participation didn’t collapse. It set records.

• The Election Integrity Act didn’t make it harder to vote.

It made it harder to cheat — and easier for voters to trust the results.

That’s the simple truth.
And that’s why I stay involved: because when more of us participate and pay attention, we strengthen the process and help voters have confidence in it.