The Independent View: GA Voting Begins Amid Accusations of Voter Suppression

As Georgians cast their First In-Person Ballots on Monday in the State’s fiercely Contested Gubernatorial Election, what were once Hypothetical Fears about the State’s Inability to handle what could be a record Turnout for a Nonpresidential Election may be becoming Reality.

Vote Totals have Increased almost 200% at the same point since the last Gubernatorial Election, according to the Independent Tracker Georgia Votes, but many worry the State has either Failed to Adequately prepare for such Increased Interest or Republican state Officials have Intentionally Mounted Barriers to Dissuade Communities of likely Democratic Residents from Voting.

A Coalition of Civil Rights Organizations filed an Emergency Motion in Georgia Federal District Court to make sure that Persons Inaccurately flagged as Non-Citizens under Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s Flawed “Exact Match” system can Vote. Kemp’s “Exact Match” voter Registration Process relies on Outdated Citizenship Data which Identifies Naturalized Citizens as Non-Citizens, forcing them to track down a Deputy Registrar before they can Vote, even if they already produced Proof of Citizenship when they Registered to Vote originally.

However, there is Not a Guaranteed Deputy registrar at every Polling Location. Therefore, Naturalized Citizens may be Required to Travel to the County Seat to Resolve an Error in their Registration that they did Not cause. Moreover, recently Naturalized Citizens have been told that they cannot Fax or Mail their Proof of Citizenship, they must present it In-Person. For Voters temporarily Out of the State, this is an Absolute Bar to Voting.

Georgia purged an estimated 107,000 People largely for Not Voting, an APM Reports investigation shows a handful of States, most of them led by Republicans, are increasingly using someone’s decision Not to Vote as the Trigger for Removing them from the Rolls. No State has been more Aggressive with this approach than Georgia. Voting Rights Advocates call it a New Form of Voter Suppression, and they fear it will soon spread to other States.

But there is a Constitutional Process to Purge Voters. Voting Rights Advocates must first find out if the States are properly following this Process, so they can present the correct Case to the Courts. If a Voter doesn't Vote in Two Federal Election cycles they should be marked as Inactive, they are emailed a Postcard to notify the Board of Elections your Status. If the Voter doesn't Return the Postcard or Contact the Board of Elections, after not Voting in Two more Federal Election cycles, they can be Removed.

There are different problems with this process:

1. If you did move, you would not get the Postcard.
2. What happens if you move to a different Voting District, but don't Notify the Board of Elections, you could try to Vote but not be Registered for that Polling District.

So it is up to the Voter to Check before going to the Polls: are they Registered and where is their Polling location.