By Anoa Changa ·December 3, 2020December 3, 2020
Three voting rights organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger improperly removed approximately 200,000 voters from the voter rolls in 2019.
The Transformative Justice Coalition, the Rainbow Push Coalition, and the Georgia based Black Voters Matter Fund are requesting a federal court to direct the state to return the voters back to the rolls ahead of the upcoming runoff election.
Filed in the Northern District of Georgia, the New York Times reported the lawsuit alleged errors on behalf of the secretary of state’s office leading to the removal of the voters. Specifically, they allege the state failed to take the proper steps to check if 68,000 voters filed a change of address with the National Change of Address Registry.
FAYETTEVILLE, NC – MARCH 03: Campaigners stop to take a selfie in front of a Black Votes Matter bus on March 3, 2020 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 1,357 Democratic delegates are at stake as voters cast their ballots in 14 states and American Samoa on what is known as Super Tuesday. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
The organizations were first alerted to the alleged purge after the ACLU published a report in September of this year finding it is likely the state improperly removed voters from the rolls.
The lawsuit comes as the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing regarding the baseless allegations brought by the Trump campaign. Opening remarks at the start of the committee gave credence to the claims of Trump’s campaign and supporters, despite evidence over the past month to the contrary.
Raffensperger also recently launched an investigation into three non-partisan voting rights organizations alleging they improperly tried to register voters despite evidence to the contrary. Raffensperger alleged the New Georgia Project, America Votes, and Vote forward attempted to register voters who were deceased or out of state.
Similar to the flimsy evidence relied upon by the Trump legal team, Raffensperger is exploiting data errors to claim nefarious intent on behalf of non-partisan organizations ahead of the voter registration deadline for the January runoff. Atlanta’s CBS affiliate, WSB-TV, reported that Raffensperger’s son passed away in 2018 but received postcards from the New Georgia Project encouraging him to register to vote. While disturbing for any family, mailing out voter registration reminders are not in itself illegal.
New Georgia Project’s CEO Nse Ufot told WSB-TV that her organization utilized information from public and private sources to “cast a wide net” to make sure they were reaching all potential voters. A postcard with information about how to register to vote is not the same as actually registering someone who is ineligible to vote.
There is no evidence anyone registered or attempted to vote as Raffensperger’s deceased son. But there is evidence that Bill Price, a republican attorney from Florida, did register to vote online for the upcoming Georgia election, which is illegal.
Full Story: https://t.co/oBPiBb0Kcc via @wsbtv #gapol
— Nicole Carr (@NicoleCarrWSB) December 2, 2020
Nicole Carr, a WSB-TV investigative reporter, captured the video before it was deleted. Carr reported that in the since deleted video, Price told people he was going to register at his brother’s address in Hiram, Georgia, and encouraged others to do the same. Price is being investigated for fraudulent registration.
The deadline to register to vote in the January runoff election is Monday, December 7.
TOPICS: Georgia runoffs
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