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<\/p>\nAfter weeks of talks with leaders of some of the state\u2019s largest companies, a coalition of influential Georgia faith leaders called for a boycott of Home Depot on Tuesday claiming the home improvement giant has not done enough to oppose the state\u2019s new voting law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The group held a press conference at\u00a0a Home Depot location\u00a0<\/a>in Decatur to announce the launch of the nationwide boycott of the state\u2019s largest public company based in Georgia, with Bishop Reginald T. Jackson saying the company has remained \u201csilent and indifferent\u201d to the plight of voters who face new obstacles to cast ballots.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t think we ought to let their indifference stand,\u201d said Jackson, who heads the Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The boycott call triggered outrage from Republicans who have complained of a growing\u00a0\u201ccancel culture\u201d<\/a>\u00a0backlash, and\u00a0coincides with a federal hearing\u00a0<\/a>Tuesday featuring testimony from U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams urging a sweeping federal law that could pre-empt the Georgia changes.<\/p>\n The boycott demand was the most significant step yet from critics of the new law who have\u00a0wrestled\u00a0<\/a>over how forcefully to push back. Some activists have demanded more strident measures to punish companies that haven\u2019t rejected the new law, while Abrams and many Democratic Party leaders have cautioned that\u00a0it\u2019s too soon<\/a> to take that sort of step.<\/p>\n Initially, faith leaders and voting rights advocates singled out several companies they criticized for saying nothing or offering bland statements about election restrictions. After Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines issued scathing statements opposing a sweeping elections rewrite, the faith leaders shifted their focus to other firms that hadn\u2019t waded into the debate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The new law requires voters to verify their identification to request an absentee ballot, shortens early voting before runoff elections, curbs the use of ballot drop boxes, tightens the window for requesting an absentee ballot and gives the GOP-controlled Legislature new powers over local election offices.<\/p>\n Gov. Brian Kemp and other supporters say they\u2019re responding to GOP voters who demanded changes in response to former President Donald Trump\u2019s false claims about widespread voting fraud. They say the overhaul restores confidence in the vote and, in some cases, expands mandatory weekend early voting days before the general election.<\/p>\n The governor, who signed the legislation into law last month, called the boycott \u201cabsolutely ridiculous\u201d in a social media post on Tuesday. He plans to discuss the \u201cjob-killing\u201d boycott at an afternoon press conference at the Capitol.<\/p>\n