Georgia, United States.
Actor and producer Will Smith will not shoot his next film, “Emancipation”, in the state of Georgia (USA) in protest of the controversial electoral reform just approved by Republican lawmakers.
“Consciously, we cannot financially support a government that enacts regressive voting laws which are designed to restrict voter access, “the actor said Monday in a statement alongside the film’s director, Antoine Fuqua.
In recent years, Georgia has become a center of production very attractive to the film industry, thanks to the tax advantages it offers.
Some call this state as the “Southern Hollywood in the US.” and the arrival of creative sector professionals is one of the reasons given by experts to explain the demographic change it has experienced, which was evidenced in giving the Democrats victory in the last election.
seconds Smith and Fuqua, the electoral reform passed by Republicans after these elections is “reminiscent of the impediments to suffrage” that existed on previous occasions and that “deprived many Americans of the vote.”
“Right now, the country is taking on its history and is trying to remove the vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true justice,” they reasoned.
The rejection of the film industry it adds to the revulsion expressed by large companies such as Coca Cola, Apple and Delta, which also operate in Georgia.
According to his detractors, the electoral reform approved by the Republicans limits the right to vote because it adds new requirements if you want to do so by mail, imposes more requirements when registering and identifying and prohibits actions such as giving food and drink to voters waiting in long lines to deposit their ballot in crowded centers, among other provisions.
Mail voting was essential in the last general election due to the pandemic, and was the former president’s favorite target. Donald Trump (2017-2021), Who did not stop criticizing him and considering him, without evidence, a source of electoral fraud.
One hundred U.S. business leaders discussed this weekend their response to the list of electoral reforms being pushed by Republican lawmakers in 47 states.