As the Election Begins, 40k Newly Registered Voters Have Been Left Behind in Georgia

Today on the second day of early voting, a delegation of folks representing a number organizations delivered over 33k petition signatures to Secretary of State Kemp’s office demanding that voters, some having registered as far back as May of this year, be added to the voter rolls. With early voting launching Monday, the Georgia Secretary of State is sitting on valid voter registrations. The most important role of the secretary of state's office is to make sure elections are fair, accessible, and secure. Processing these registration forms is not only the right thing to do — but it's also his job.

Color of Change and PowerPac+, and were joined by leaders and activists from Moral Monday Georgia, including American Friends Service Committees, to insist that the Secretary of State do everything in his power to stop this latest voter suppression attempt and uphold his oath to Georgians.

After making brief statements to the press we delivered the petitions to Kemp's office and demanded a response in the next 24 hours. To date Kemp's office has refused to give any reason for his refusal to add the 40k newly registered voters into the system, and he has likewise refused to meet with Moral Monday or other long standing civil rights groups like the NAACP Georgia.

 

The fact is that this election has already started; the polls are officially open for early voting and 40k newly registered voters are being denied access to the polls. 40k is more than enough voter to through the election, which calls into question the legitimacy of Georgia’s claim to democracy. It is deeply troubling that even to the casual observer following this story it seems that Georgia’s Secretory of State is successfully attempting to block 40k people of color from having access to the polls in 2014.