Georgia

Articles about voting issues in Georgia.

State settles voter registration suit  | ajc.com

Apr 212012

The state of Georgia has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to provide the opportunity to register to vote every time people apply for public assistance benefits, a coalition of civil rights groups said Thursday. Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who signed off on the agreement, condemned the litigation. He said the settlement will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with “outdated and unneeded federal voter registration mandates and in attorneys fees paid to venue-shopping interest groups.” The lawsuit alleged the state had been ignoring its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act. The settlement details procedures the state must follow for distributing voter registration applications to public assistance clients when they arrive in person or contact the Department of Human Services by phone, over the Internet or by mail. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: ACLU, NAACP, voter registration, voting rights

Georgia could implement online voter registration | ajc.com

Mar 082012

Georgia’s voter registration process could add an online option under a proposed bill that includes the technology provision as one of several updates to the state’s current voting laws. HB 899, sponsored by Rep. Buzz Brockway, would allow the secretary of state’s office to develop an online system voter registration system for state residents.  Applicants must have a Georgia driver’s license or identification card from the Department of Driver Services, and the information would be matched to the state’s Driver Services database. The bill was passed by the House on Monday and is on its way to the Senate for consideration. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: database, online voter registration

State set to keep harsh ballot access law | Macon.com

Mar 022012
Georgia

In most states, independent and third-party candidates have to leap some hurdles to put their names in front of voters. In Georgia, the barriers build up to a wall. A proposed rewrite of ballot laws now seems likely to overlook a key committee’s advice and leave the biggest brick untouched. “If I wanted to run as an independent for the Bibb County Commission chair’s job,” said Macon businessman Tom Wagoner, “I was required by law to get a petition signed by 4,500 registered voters in the county.” Anyone who wants to run for county or district elected office has to get signatures from 5 percent of their prospective voters — people registered during the previous election. Getting on a statewide ballot, for governor or a U.S. Senate seat for example, would take about 58,000 signatures, 1 percent of Georgia’s registered voters. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: ballot access, Rusty Kidd, Tom Wagoner

Changes to Georgia's voter ID law? | 11alive.com

Jan 262012

The Georgia House of Representatives is considering making some changes to the state’s voter ID law. Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (D-Austell) has introduced a bill that would allow students at private colleges or universities to use their school ID to vote. Under the current law, one must present a photo ID to vote in Georgia. State school-issued IDs are already accepted. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: photo id, student voters, voter id, youth vote

Justice Department approves new Georgia district maps on first try | The Times-Herald

Dec 302011

When the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it was approving Georgia’s new House, Senate and Congressional district maps, it was the first time ever that all three Georgia maps had been “pre-cleared” on the first try.

“I am proud to say that this year was the first time Republicans ever controlled the redistricting process and both the process and the product were very different than anything Georgia has seen before,” said former state senator Mitch Seabaugh, R-Sharpsburg. Seabaugh, now deputy state treasurer, served as chairman of the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee this summer. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: Department of Justice, redistricting, Voting Rights Act

College Park Georgia election stolen, challenger claims  | ajc.com

Nov 302011

Roderick Derun Gay is again trying to overturn another College Park election he contends was stolen from him. AJC file Roderick Derun Gay filed a lawsuit asking the Fulton County Superior Court to throw out Mayor Jack Longino’s victory in the College Park election on Nov. 8.

Gay, 52, said Monday that he filed a lawsuit asking the Fulton County Superior Court to throw out Mayor Jack Longino’s tsunami-like victory on Nov. 8 because he said the election was “illegal and the votes certified are false.” Longino, 58, was dismissive about the lawsuit. “I think it’s about a sore loser,” he said. Gay said City Clerk Lakeitha Reeves, who served as the election superintendent, refused to allow him or his representative to inspect the tally from electronic voting machines or examine the absentee ballots cast. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: absentee ballots, electronic voting, voting machine

State seeks to strike down Voting Rights Act  | ajc.com

Oct 262011

The state of Georgia wants three federal judges in Washington to declare a portion of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Georgia filed suit earlier this month asking that the court approve Republican-backed plans to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional districts. But in that filing, the state asks that if the court rejects its redistricting plans, that it also rule the law that requires that approval to be unconstitutional.

Georgia is one of nine states that must get any change in election law, including district maps, pre-approved by either the Justice Department or the federal court in Washington. That preclearance is required by Section V of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1964 law passed in the wake of Jim Crow and voting laws aimed at limiting the ability of African-Americans to vote.

“The state of Georgia and its voters are being subjected to the continued extraordinary intrusion into its constitutional sovereignty through Section 5 and its outdated preclearance formula based upon discriminatory conditions that existed more than 47 years ago but have long since been remedied,” the state says in its filing. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: poll tax, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights Act

State Challenges Voting Rights Act | GPB

Oct 142011
redistricting_capitol_photos_038_0

Georgia is challenging the constitutionality of a clause in the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. The challenge is part of a lawsuit filed last week that seeks approval for Georgia’s new redistricting maps. Under the Act, the state can’t eliminate districts where minorities comprise more than 50 percent of the population. Georgia is one of nine states that also must receive so-called “pre-clearance” from the federal government for any election map changes.

State Attorney General Sam Olens calls this requirement a scarlet letter for Georgia that’s unfair because it’s based on a racial climate that no longer exists. He says he supports other provisions in the law.

“Whenever a government attempts to reduce the rights of minority voters, that’s clearly wrong, and clearly unconstitutional,” he said in an interview. “The only issue that we’re discussing is pre-clearance, and whether those nine states should be treated differently than other states.” Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: redistricting, Voting Rights Act

Laughlin McDonald: Georgia’s photo ID law infringes on the right to vote | The Washington Post

Jul 062011
In his June 23 letter, Georgia’s secretary of state, Brian Kemp, said his state’s photo ID law, which requires a photo ID for in-person voting, is necessary because “every year we investigate and penalize hundreds of people guilty of election and voter fraud.” He failed to note, however, that when Georgia’s photo ID law was challenged in federal court in 2005, the state was unable to point to a single instance of fraudulent in-person voting.

He also claimed that the photo ID law does not “reduce turnout among minority groups.” Again, he did not note the federal court’s finding that the photo ID law “is most likely to prevent Georgia’s elderly, poor, and African American voters from voting. For those citizens, the character and magnitude of their injury — the loss of their right to vote — is undeniably demoralizing and extreme.” Read More »

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Editorials, Georgia Comments Off Topics: voter id, voting rights

NAACP and Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda File Voting Rights Lawsuit in Georgia | AM Law Daily

Jun 072011

Representing a coalition of voting rights, civil liberties, and minority rights groups, Dechert filed suit in an Atlanta federal district court on Monday accusing Georgia state officials of neglecting their obligations under federal law to provide voter registration services to low income residents at public aid offices.

Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), states are required to distribute registration forms every time an individual fills out an application for public assistance (such as food stamps or Medicaid). The law, known as the “motor voter” law, was passed during the Clinton Administration and also required state motor vehicles departments to provide voter registration applications. Dechert, which is working pro bono, filed the complaint on behalf of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and the Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: motor voter, NAACP, NVRA, voter registration, voting rights

Georgia bill limiting early voting become law | Forsyth News

May 192011

Two bills authored by District 23 state Rep. Mark Hamilton were recently signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal.  House Bill 92 shortens the early voting period from 45 to 21 days as a cost-saving measure.

It also requires polls to be open on one Saturday during the early voting period to improve access for those whose work schedules don’t allow them to vote on weekdays. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: early voting

Georgia election changes suggested | The Augusta Chronicle

Apr 272011

Georgia’s election law should be changed to allow more third-party candidates, voting machines with paper records and vetting of presidential hopefuls, according to 19 witnesses at Wednesday’s initial meeting of the Georgia Election Advisory Council.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp, whose office oversees elections, conceived the council and appointed it 15 members of legislators, academics and elections officials. When he first announced it, he said its goal would be to find ideas to save money and improve efficiency. The witnesses said they were looking for more substantive changes. “A lot of these things are going to depend on the will of the legislature,” Kemp said. Read More »

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: ballot access, voter verified paper audit trail

GA: Top Georgia court upholds state’s voter ID law | Washington Post

Mar 082011

Georgia’s top court has upheld a state law that requires voters to show photo identification before they cast ballots. The Georgia Supreme Court’s 6-1 decision Monday is the latest court ruling to conclude that the rules are constitutional. The decision found the 2006 law was a “minimal, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory restriction.”

Georgia attorneys said the measure is needed to prevent voter fraud, but the Democratic Party of Georgia countered that state legislators have no proof anyone tried to illegally cast a ballot. Critics have also long claimed the law creates an undue burden on the poor, the disabled and minorities. Read the Court Opinion (pdf)

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Georgia Comments Off Topics: voter id
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