Commissioners in Surry County, NC, are banning Coca-Cola vending machines in county-owned buildings in response to Coke’s criticism of a controversial voting law in Georgia early this year.
Surry County officials have publicized their disagreement with the politics of Atlanta's Coca-Cola Co. and its criticism of Georgia’s new election law, which activists say specifically targets voters in minority communities.
A vote by the Surry Board of Commissioners two weeks ago favored removing Coca-Cola machines from all county government facilities. The move was described by one official as a grassroots movement he hopes will be embraced by other localities, according to a story in The Mount Airy News.
Prior to Surry County’s announcement, and after criticism elsewhere, Coca-Cola put a hold on its diversity plan, which included penalties on outside law firms if they failed to meet racial diversity quotas.
The pause came after the plan's architect, Coke’s former general counsel Bradley Gayton, abruptly resigned in April after less than a year on the job and as criticism of the quotas mounted.
