ATLANTA – Georgia begins removing tens of thousands of people from the electoral roll.
It is required by a Georgian law that dates back to the 1990s. But it’s controversial, and critics call it a voter purge.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned that letters will be mailed to anyone whose voter registration may be terminated later this month.
Georgia is required to notify everyone on the removal list and give the voter 30 days to confirm their registration status and stay updated.
The state also plans to post each name on its website.
Georgia polling officer Chris Harvey said it is because of this that Georgia is doing a biannual maintenance on its voter rolls. It is state law.
“Elections are about accuracy and integrity,” said Harvey.
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In 2017, Georgia removed more than 500,000 people from the electoral roll. Two years ago, 289,000 people lost their voter registration.
However, the Georgian Foreign Ministry assumes that this number will be significantly lower at around 100,000 this year.
The Foreign Minister’s office said this was due to the record-breaking turnout in the 2020 elections – more than 5 million Georgians voted, which automatically keeps their registration active.
“The massive turnout and participation in Georgia keeps that number down. We think it will be less than half what it was two years ago, ”said Harvey.
To be on the moving list, a Georgian would have to be an inactive voter for nine years.
“You’re telling me that if I don’t use it, I’ll lose a basic right? No, ”said Francys Johnson, constituency chairman of the New Georgia Project. “We just don’t trust this government to do what it says it will.”
For the first time this year, Georgia has joined 30 other states to be part of the non-partisan Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which regularly provides voter information across state lines.
The state intends to update monthly.
“People move all the time. They don’t think about updating their registry. People die every day. Nobody in the family is thinking of canceling their registration and ERIC is here to help, ”said Shane Hamlin of the Electronic Registration Information Center.
Everyone on the removal list will receive a letter by email and have 30 days to reply.
“We want people to know this is happening, and if they have a problem and are on the list, contact your polling station and say something is wrong here,” said Harvey.
Georgia election officials say they are purposely not doing this near an election. So if there is a bug or confusion, there will be plenty of time to fix the problem.
Expect these letters to run out in the next few weeks.
