(The Center Square) — Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he has referred more than 1,600 cases of prospective non-citizens attempting to register to vote in Georgia to local prosecutors and state investigators.
The secretary of state referred the cases to the state elections commission, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and local prosecutors. The announcement comes weeks after Raffensperger said the state had completed first citizenship Test the country’s electoral register.
According to a message release, the audit identified 1,634 non-citizens who had attempted to register to vote. The state could not verify the non-citizens through the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) program.
“Attempting to register to vote by a person who knows they are not qualified is a violation of Georgia law,” Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Chris Arnt said in a press release.
Officials said foreigners would not be allowed to register to vote. Instead, potential voters were placed on hold and asked to provide proof of citizenship before voting.
Raffensperger, the subject of former President Donald Trump criticism, is no doubt trying to use the case to bolster his position as a tough opponent of electoral abuse. He used the press release issued by the state to denounce Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for governor four years ago and is running again this year.
Fair Fight Action, a group founded by Abrams, is challenging Georgia’s rules and said it violates federal law.
The audit uncovered attempted registrations by non-citizens in 88 counties throughout The Peach State. While the attempts took place between 1997 and February 24, 2022, most of the attempted registrations – 80.7% or 1,319 – have been since 2016.
DeKalb County had the highest number of non-citizens attempting to register at 345, followed by Fulton County (275) and Gwinnett County (221). Five counties in Greater Atlanta — Clayton (141), Cobb (143), Gwinnett, Fulton and DeKalb — represented 69% of the attempted non-citizens, officials said.
