Current Events > Georgia GOP Removes More Than 300,000 Voters From Rolls

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/17/stop-illegal-purge-outrage-georgia-gop-removes-more-300000-voters-rolls

A federal judge Monday night allowed Georgia to move ahead with a purge of over 300,000 voters deemed "inactive" by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, sparking outrage from rights advocates who accused the GOP of an illegal voter suppression effort ahead of the 2020 elections.

"Georgians should not lose their right to vote simply because they have not expressed that right in recent elections, and Georgia's practice of removing voters who have declined to participate in recent elections violates the United States Constitution," said Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group founded by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Abrams lost to Republican Brian Kemp, the former Georgia Secretary of State who was widely accused of spearheading a mass voter suppression scheme before the 2018 election.

Fair Fight Action filed a lawsuit Monday calling on the court to "step in and stop this illegal purge," but U.S. District Judge Steve Jones allowed it to proceed while noting that he could still order the reinstatement of voters removed from the rolls. Another court hearing on the purge is scheduled for Thursday.

The Georgia voter rolls are expected to shrink from 7.4 million to 7.1 million by Tuesday morning. According to Fair Fight Action, 120,561 Georgia voters are being removed from the rolls solely because they have decided not to participate in recent elections.

Alex Kotch, investigative reporter with Sludge, warned Georgia could remain a red state in 2020 "due to the GOP purposefully denying people the right to vote."

The Georgia voter purge comes just days after a judge ordered Wisconsin to remove more than 200,000 voters from the rolls in response to a lawsuit brought by the right-wing group Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

In a statement late Monday, the advocacy group All Voting is Local raised alarm at the effort to "strip away the voting rights of 234,000 Wisconsinites."

"Voter purges pose a distinct threat to our democracy, causing disproportionate harm to the very voters who have long been disenfranchised: people of color, low-income voters, and those who move frequently," said Shauntay Nelson, Wisconsin state director of All Voting is Local. "This flawed ruling doesn't provide enough time or notice for voters to comply."

During a rally Monday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, condemned "Republican officials in Georgia and Wisconsin who are too cowardly to engage in free and fair elections."
"I say, get out of politics and get another job," Sanders said.

In a tweet earlier Monday, Sanders wrote that he has run for office many times but has "never said to [himself], 'How can I make sure those who might vote against me can't participate in democracy?'"

"That's what Republicans are doing today," said Sanders. "It's cowardice and they won't get away with it."

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Huh, wonder if I am off.

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Alteres posted...

Huh, wonder if I am off.

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Alteres posted...

Huh, wonder if I am off.

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

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Still registered and I haven't voted since 2012.

I know I sent in an FVAP ballot to the state in 2016 but I have no idea if it actually went through.

Never voted on a state seat outside of a presidential year though

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Tmaster148 posted...

Abrams lost to Republican Brian Kemp, the former Georgia Secretary of State who was widely accused of spearheading a mass voter suppression scheme before the 2018 election.

a scummy republican candidate??

This is normal

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But the gop would never engage in voter suppression.

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if you can't rig the districts in your favor, just keep people from voting

the funniest part of shit like this is these folks really do believe there is some grand conspiracy to defraud the election process in favor of Democrats so it isn't even total horse shit they are trying to sell you.

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Why is there even the remotest possibility this isn't illegal?
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Tmaster148 posted...

"It's cowardice and they won't get away with it."

Sadly, I bet they will.

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Bio1590 posted...

Why is there even the remotest possibility this isn't illegal?

Because SCOTUS overturned a law that made it illegal because "racism was solved so this law isn't necessary anymore"

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Tmaster148 posted...

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

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Can't you simply register to vote again? Not saying this isn't bad, but what I worry about most in terms of voter suppression is politicians finding ways to take away the right completely like many states do for felons.

If Brian Kemp was kidnapped, tortured for weeks, and then murdered slowly, that would be too good for him.

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darkmaian23 posted...

Can't you simply register to vote again? Not saying this isn't bad, but what I worry about most in terms of voter suppression is politicians finding ways to take away the right completely like many states do for felons.

I guarantee you not all of those 300k people know they've been purged. When they try to vote they'll be told they're not registered and sent home.

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darkmaian23 posted...

Can't you simply register to vote again?

Not in Georgia. It take 7-8 hours out of your day just for a chance.

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Related: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/precinct-closures-harm-voter-turnout-georgia-ajc-analysis-finds/11sVcLyQCHuQRC8qtZ6lYP/

The AJC mapped Georgias 7 million registered voters and compared how distance to their local precincts increased or decreased from 2012 to 2018. During that time, county election officials shut down 8% of Georgias polling places and relocated nearly 40% of the states precincts.

Most of the precinct closures and relocations occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 ended federal oversight of local election decisions under the Voting Rights Act.

The AJCs analysis, vetted by two nonpartisan statistics experts, showed a clear link between turnout and reduced voting access. The farther voters live from their precincts, the less likely they are to cast a ballot.

Precinct closures and longer distances likely prevented an estimated 54,000 to 85,000 voters from casting ballots on Election Day last year, according to the AJCs findings.

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darkmaian23 posted...

Can't you simply register to vote again? Not saying this isn't bad, but what I worry about most in terms of voter suppression is politicians finding ways to take away the right completely like many states do for felons.

The issue with these purges are that they always take place close to an upcoming election and the people being purged tend to not be notified or given anyway to prevent them from being purged which means re-registering to vote.

A move like this is to try to discourage people from voting by forcing extra hoops they need to go through despite already being a registered voter.

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DarkChozoGhost posted...

Not in Georgia. It take 7-8 hours out of your day just for a chance.

Not sure about that. Looks like you can register online if you have a Georgia drivers license.

If you don't have a driver's license or photo id from a DDS building that's a 7-8 hour day thing.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

I guarantee you not all of those 300k people know they've been purged. When they try to vote they'll be told they're not registered and sent home.

DarkChozoGhost posted...

Not in Georgia. It take 7-8 hours out of your day just for a chance.

Tmaster148 posted...

The issue with these purges are that they always take place close to an upcoming election and the people being purged tend to not be notified or given anyway to prevent them from being purged which means re-registering to vote.

A move like this is to try to discourage people from voting by forcing extra hoops they need to go through despite already being a registered voter.

Well shit. Actually, come to think of it, something like this happened to me recently. There was a local election, but I never received an absentee ballot despite being signed up for it. I wonder if that is an example of voter suppression in my state?

Tyranthraxus posted...

Not sure about that. Looks like you can register online if you have a Georgia drivers license.

Nope, they ensure the the website works poorly and fails a great deal of the time. It took my cousin several days of trying with multiple failures on the server side when they did this in 2018. And he's a very intelligent man that follows these issues closely.


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Garioshi posted...

This is normal

If by normal you mean not the first time Georgia has pulled this shit, then yeah totally normal.

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Hmm I didn't know rights had a sell-by date

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I'm still there.

Oddly it says I registered in 2017, which is complete bs.

I registered here in 2004 and there has been a long gap since I last voted.

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What's even worse is that some of these people probably tried to vote, but couldn't. They closed down most of the centers in predominately black areas. and ensured the voting machines were working poorly to slow down the process. There were hundreds of people in line all day, all the way up to when voting closed. Anyone that didn't get a chance because they were in line too long, or had to leave early to go to work, could now be dropped from the registry due to this corrupt law.

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DarkChozoGhost posted...

What's even worse is that some of these people probably tried to vote, but couldn't. They closed down most of the centers in predominately black areas. and ensured the voting machines were working poorly to slow down the process. There were hundreds of people in line all day, all the way up to when voting closed. Anyone that didn't get a chance because they were in line too long, or had to leave early to go to work, could now be dropped from the registry due to this corrupt law.

The Republican plan to stay in power as long as possible!
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Alteres posted...

I'm still there.

Oddly it says I registered in 2017, which is complete bs.

I registered here in 2004 and there has been a long gap since I last voted.

I moved counties recently so it says I registered in 2016 even though I've voted in every election since 2000.

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