Learn more about why Bee is running for Secretary of State to defend our rights to vote. Written by Sheri Panovka.

Bee Nguyen made history as well as local headlines in 2017, when she became the first Asian-American Democratic woman to be elected to the Georgia General Assembly (winning the seat previously held by Stacey Abrams). Now, she’s making headlines nationally as she campaigns to become Georgia’s third female and first Asian-American secretary of state. If she wins, she’ll also be the first Asian-American to hold statewide office in Georgia. 

Nguyen (pronounced “win”), a daughter of Vietnamese refugees, faces competition in the Democratic primary in May. Four others ­— all men — have declared their candidacy. Of the five, Nguyen is the only one currently serving in the government, which is especially significant given the politically charged environment. 

“As a state lawmaker, I have been immersed in making laws, so I understand from a legislative and election law perspective the nuances of what is happening in the G.A.,” says Nguyen. “I’m the only one who has successfully passed meaningful legislation to advance voting rights, and I have a history of doing the work and standing up to the misinformation and lies of the Republican party. Plus, I’m the only candidate who has served under S.B. 202, where we have been on the ground in the Statehouse battling voter suppression bills.”

Senate Bill 202 (now called the Election Integrity Act of 2021) puts new voter restrictions in place and changes the way elections are run. After Georgians elected a Democratic president and two Democratic senators in 2020, Republicans in the state Legislature joined Donald J. Trump in denouncing what they insisted was a stolen, fraudulent election. No matter that no evidence of fraud existed — the election was praised widely for being fair and secure — the G.A. passed the bill, and Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law. 

“I was hoping that after Jan. 6, I would see a change in the Republican party,” says Nguyen, referring to the day an angry mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. “But when we came into session, their top priority was to pass a bill that not only makes it harder for Georgians to vote; it opens the door to overturning the results of an election if Republicans don’t like it.

Along with the races for Governor, which Abrams recently entered, and Senator, when Raphael Warnock will be running for a full term, the race for secretary of state is sure to be among Georgia’s most high-profile in November, and could be one of the more heavily followed local races in the country. The current officeholder, Brad Raffensperger, has become a regular fixture in local and national news since resisting Trump’s demands to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results. That isn’t the first time the office was in the spotlight; before the 2018 election, then-Secretary of State Kemp came under fire for not relinquishing his seat during his run for governor — effectively leaving him in charge of his own election. 

“The single most important responsibility of the secretary of state is certifying the results of an election,” Nguyen says. “We need to have someone in that seat who is committed to performing that basic duty.”

Georgia’s restrictive new voting law, explained —>

The new Election Integrity law takes some important powers away from the secretary of state and gives the Republican-led G.A. greater control over elections (including the ability to disqualify voters and ballots). Although the certification process is the same, the secretary no longer chairs the State Board of Elections or votes on matters that come before it. Instead, the Legislature gets to appoint the chair of the board, who is responsible for passing emergency rules (such as those pertaining to “drop boxes” during the COVID-19 pandemic). The law also empowers the state board to assess the performance of county boards of election. If it decides any are performing poorly, it can replace it entirely with an administrator of choice.

“The takeover provision is the worst part of the new law,” Nguyen says. “Using a partisan legislature to take over local boards is overreach.”

As the representative for much of Dekalb County, Nguyen has made an impact, particularly when she successfully challenged the Trump campaign over what it said was illegal votes. During a heated legislative session where a Republican data analyst presented a list of people he insisted voted illegally, she tore his testimony apart with facts she had spent days collecting. 

“I understood my responsibility was to step up and use facts to counter all the lies and to protect voters,” she says. Almost immediately after, a radical group advocating the use of AK-47 assault rifles shared her address online, and she started receiving death threats. To Nguyen, it’s a tactic of the right wing to intimidate people into silence.

Nguyen believes Trump and his followers are not going away. “We saw the coordinated efforts across the country. Republicans are doubling down and are going to do everything in their power to continue to undermine our democracy. The role of secretary of state, even with a Republican G.A., is an important office that’s necessary to safeguard that democracy. Our future elections are on the line.” 

The secretary of state also has authority to invest in Georgia’s 159 election boards to ensure they have the necessary resources to run effectively. “It’s important to educate voters, communicate with them, contact them by all means possible — email, phone calls, letters — and work in good faith to keep all eligible voters on the rolls.”

Nguyen understands the importance of combating misinformation and making it easier for Georgians to register and stay on the voter rolls, says Nsé Ufot, who has known Nguyen for many years, both personally and professionally. Ufot is the CEO of the New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan organization that registers people to vote, especially those in underrepresented communities, such as minorities, newly naturalized citizens and 18-year-olds. It does not endorse candidates or ask voters to indicate their political affiliations. 

“As someone deeply involved in this work, you learn quickly who the champions of democracy are,” says Ufot. “I’m not going to give Raffensperger credit for following the law like he is supposed to, but imagine if he agreed to go along with Trump. Bee is brilliant and a fighter, and that’s what the people of Georgia need right now. That’s what our democracy needs right now.” 

Criticizing the gerrymandering in the recent redistricting process and the hundreds of “anti-voting laws,” Ufot asserts the Republicans are continuing to spread misinformation about the 2020 election.

“We need a champion in the secretary of state’s office who is going to aggressively defend the right to vote and remove barriers to participation. What we don’t need is a fox in the hen house — someone who is willing to steal the election.”

Making it clear she is not a Democrat or Republican, Ufot calls Nguyen “accountable and fierce, a fighter with a solid moral compass — exactly the type of leader we need in that position.”

Nguyen represents what is best about this country, says Andre D. Fields, a prominent voting rights advocate in Georgia. “She is proof that no matter how your story begins, in a compassionate nation, you can achieve the greatest of dreams. Bee’s dream has always been to serve and advocate for those who may be unseen and unheard. As a voting rights advocate, I have seen her stand up for marginalized communities in the state legislature. More than ever, we need a secretary of state who protects voters and does not attempt to disenfranchise them. If elected, Bee Nguyen will be that secretary of state.” 

Nguyen is up to the task. 

“As secretary of state, I will build a collaborative relationship with all 159 local election boards,” she says. “I will work with them, learn about the challenges they face and identify how I can be a partner in helping to mitigate obstacles.” Nguyen also plans to help small business owners and others who don’t speak English as a native language by investing in language access, translating election and corporation information into the top spoken languages in Georgia. 

“I’ll be meeting voters where they are, investing in our workforce and bringing everyone to the table,” she says, emphasizing her conviction that “the Georgia secretary of state seat is one of the most critical positions on ballots in the country right now.”

All photos in the article are courtesy of the campaign, Bee for Georgia.