Information on voter-registration applications would have to exactly match state or federal databases to cast a ballot, under legislation backed by the Georgia Senate on Thursday. Advocacy groups and Democrats slammed the change, warning it will disproportionately affect minority voters and could be subject to legal challenges. Under the bill , people couldn’t be added to the voting rolls unless information on their application exactly matches records tied to their Georgia driver’s license or identification card or the last four digits of a Social Security Number. Without an exact match, people could only cast a provisional ballot and their application could be rejected after 26 months if they’re unable to resolve the conflict.
Supporters argue that’s a reliable way to prevent people from voting illegally. Voting-rights advocates, though, have found that strict matching procedures can prevent residents from voting, particularly minorities who are more likely to have hyphens or symbols in their names or to have compound last names.
A federal lawsuit targeted a similar process that Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office implemented in 2010. The lawsuit argued that the procedure prevented tens of thousands of residents from registering based on data-entry errors, typos or other issues and violated the federal Voting Rights Act.
Julie Houk, an attorney with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights who worked on the suit, said the bill “significantly undermines” a settlement agreement that the state reached with advocacy groups and signed in February. “If this passes, it’s going to be very onerous for people to register to vote in Georgia,” Houk said. “We already know there are issues with matching because these databases are filled with errors.”
Full Article: Senate Backs Voter-Registration Changes Opposed by Advocates | Georgia News | US News.