More Than 380,000 Georgia Voters Receive Purge Notice

[n2doc]

More than 380,000 Georgia voters received a “purge notice” from their local board of elections under the direction of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, Rewire has learned through an open records request.

The ACLU sent a letter earlier this month to Secretary of State Brian Kemp and to the chairperson of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections alleging that these notices, when sent to voters who moved within the same county, violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The letter requested more information about the notices that were sent out and officially informed the named officials of their intent to sue if corrective actions are not taken.

Fulton County resident Stacey Hopkins received an official piece of mail on July 3 informing her that, “If you do not return the attached card within 30 days, you will be moved to an inactive [voter] status.”

“I opened the notice, it was on July 3 right before Independence Day,” Hopkins told Rewire in a July 14 phone interview. “And I opened it and I read the first line and to be honest the first thing my mind said was, ‘This is bull.’ Because of the work that I’ve done doing voter registration in the state and being a part of a coalition of voter empowerment and civic engagement groups, I immediately recognized it for what it was.”

MORE

https://rewire.news/article/2017/07/21/more-380000-georgia-voters-received-purge-notice/

[L. Coyote]

1. K & R

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. We need to become more effective at making the media cover this crap

And I think the first step toward that is getting Democratic politicians to include specific references to actions such as this on prominently in every media interview they give.

[Gabi Hayes]

5. Should be top story EVERY DAY!!!

How can this be happening?

???????????????

[DK504]

16. So much treachery so little time.

Seriously, there aren't enough hours in the day.

[Gabi Hayes]

17. Overwhelming. So today we go on a

garden walk featuring rock pools/waterfalls

Sorry about music

Put on In a Silent Way

[Wounded Bear]

3. K & R ......for visibility..nt

[YCHDT]

4. Most of em non-whites I bet

[Gabi Hayes]

6. Amen! Kobach:

Worse threat than Trump?

[dchill]

45. Dracula: Worse threat than the Wolfman?

IOW, yes.

[Chasstev365]

12. Then that will show intent and a suit should be brought forth immediately!

[YCHDT]

33. Not if they don't release the list to public

[OKNancy]

7. My husband gets a similar postcard. I think we have received two over the past four years

They say send it in and verify address, name, etc.
The first time we got it I called the number on the card and asked what this was about.
The gal who answered didn't have much information but she did say that he had a very common name and his name was probably on the rolls several times.

This is true. Without giving his name, it's the equivalent of John Smith. I looked up the first name popularity and it was #2 and #1 the years before and after his birth. Our last name is in the top 5.

We sent in the card and have had no problems voting.

[YCHDT]

35. But they understand there is rarely voter fraud so why send the card in the first place

[Not Ruth]

8. Should it be easier to inactivate a voter than to activate a voter?

Probably not.

[Maraya1969]

9. The DNC or Act Blue needs to make a TV ad explaining that most of the

Voters purged should not be purged and to please check with, (voter information here) to make sure they have not been removed from the rolls.

They can also ad something about the impropriety or illegality of such actions and how the people who did this are trying to influence the election.

[Hoyt]

10. This doesn't bother me. First, they can still vote for the next 4 years. And, if they send in card

they are moved to active status. Not hard a hard thing to do.

Again, if one votes in the next four years, they are automatically considered active.

In Georgia, you can check you registration on-line. In fact, you can register on-line, or change your address.

There is no excuse not to vote in Georgia. There is usually early voting. Anyone can vote by mail. I know it's not like that in other states, but we ought to be working on that.

Rather than filing suits like this, we ought to be out encouraging the 40% who seldom vote, to vote and helping them check their registration status before the election and getting them to mail in a ballot. We'd win every election.

Heck, I've been purged before. 15 years after moving 100 miles I got purged from the county where I moved from and hadn't voted in. I had no problem during those 10 years voting in my new district.

Now, if they were purging people who voted say in November 2016 or even 2012, that would be a problem. But that is not what is happening.

It would also help if Georgia would vote the GOPers out, which leads people to suspect things like this. But, that's easy -- get those 40% or so out who don't vote.

[LiberalArkie]

20. I hope they follow through and do indeed delete from the rolls all those who do not respond.

The list of those who do not respond would make a very good list for "grave yard" voting.

I checked the list of registered voters in my home town. My mom is still registered (she died in 1988) and my dad is registered (he died in 1992). I wonder who they voted for since their deaths. If you miss 2 federal elections, I believe you are supposed to be removed from the voter rolls, but they haven't been.

It used to be that the grave yards voted solid Democratic in the South, I don't know any more.

[Not Ruth]

26. Not everyone gets mail

[Hoyt]

34. Not many, but everyone can vote within 8 years, even if they need help from local Democrats.

[DeminPennswoods]

29. Thank you!

All states purge voter rolls.

In Pennsylvania your name gets purged if you don't vote in 2 consecutive presidential elections, iirc. If you do get moved to inactive status, you need only bring current ID (driver's license, etc) to your polling place to be able to vote.

Pennsylvania also has online voter registration and when your driver's license comes up for renewal, you can register then as well.

[lebkr]

42. I disagree

that this is no big deal. Some people are going to feel intimidated by such notifications, especially if it's repeated. I'm one of those people with a common name, I would not be at all surprised to find I've been cross checked. I know enough to challenge and demand my voter rights but that will not always be the case for everyone. And, every vote counts.

[Hoyt]

43. So, they should just let old names stay on the rolls because some people might not understand OR

the local Democrats aren't doing their job to get people out to vote at least once in 8 years. I'm sorry, Democrats are as stupid as some people seem to think.

Some people ought to feel intimidated if they haven't voted in 8 years or more. And if they have moved to another District, they need to get re-registered so they can vote.

[Chasstev365]

11. This CANNOT be legal, can it?

It would be very interesting to ask the 380,000 voters if they are registered Democrats. That might be the legal challange.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Voter suppression. Prob localized pattern that hits more Democrats than RepubliCONNED voters. . . nt

[extvbroadcaster]

14. I lived in Georgia

Nothing would surprise me. I had people there that came flat out and told me they would never vote for a woman or black President. So you could run any white guy, and they would vote for him against a woman or a black. The Klan is alive and well there too. Now there are wonderful people in Georgia. I had friends there that would give you the shirt off their back. But that southern attitude of right wing, anti union, anti government, well it is more common than you would think. Don't think about Atlanta, everybody there is from somewhere else. But drive outside of Atlanta and it is good ol boy time, right down to flying the stars and bars proudly off the porch.

[rzemanfl]

18. Welcome to DU. n/t

[LittleGirl]

19. Welcome to DU

and I lived in north eastern Alabama (for about 18 months) and that was the thing there too. No women, no blacks. They just couldn't! Good ole boy network everywhere in those parts. It's disgraceful. Those people rarely travel. They need to.

welcome again!

[Ilsa]

30. 30-60 miles north of Atlanta

still votes R, largely, but the Demographics are changing as more international, post-grad, take tech jobs, and who frequently take the oath of citizenship. There are several I know that voted for the Dumpster, but have huge regrets now. The counties north of Atlanta are becoming more educated, I think. A lot of the family farms are being bought out by developers.

[Solly Mack]

15. K&R

[kentuck]

21. A waste of taxpayer money.

If they move, they will be voting in a new precinct or district, most probably. They would not be on the voting rolls if they did not change their address? I don't understand the problem, I guess?

[rickford66]

22. What if you don't get the card ?

You could move from one apartment to another in the same building and the card may be returned as non-deliverable.

[Not Ruth]

27. Getting mail is not a requirement to vote

[OldRedneck]

31. True. But . . .

While receiving mail is not a requirement to vote, keeping an updated address on file with the registrar is. What if, by moving from one side of the building to the other side you move into another precinct? What if the registrar needs to contact you?

I'll bet if you move within the same apartment building, you notify the electric company, the cable TV company, your bank, your credit cards. Why not notify your voter registrar?

[aquamarina]

23. I honestly do not understand

why our elected representatives - no matter what party - are not required to send out some kind of "know how to vote" information flyer. This would include reminding them to check their status and tips for confirming their eligibility. I honestly do not care what party you are in it should be mandatory - every address in a rep's district should get one of these no exception.

[PurgedVoter]

24. There is a reason I go by PurgedVoter

It is illegal to vote twice. It is usually five to ten years in jail.
If you take someones vote away, it has exactly the same effect but it is apparently entirely legal. I think we need to start suing the individuals in charge for the amount we pay in taxes. After all, they caused us to have taxation without representation. A few class action suits that hit the individual who committed the crime, not the government agency they corrupted would pretty quickly explain to those folk that if they are going to purge a vote, they had better be sure it is not a mistake. I have a reasonably unique name. I have been purged multiple times.

The last time I had my vote purged. I went in to the county office and asked who exactly was responsible. I made it quite clear that my rights as a citizen were being revoked on a regular basis. I advised them that I took this quite seriously. Since then I have been left alone.

I think we need exit polls asking the question, "Were you denied the right to vote?"
Making it clear to people that their voting rights can and will be taken away by authorities who want to stay in power is probably our best way to get the evil ones out of power.

[OldRedneck]

28. Is it possible for you to explain further?

You say: "The last time I had my vote purged."

EXACTLY what happened?

You say you went to the "county office" -- I assume the county registrar. You say "Since then I have been left alone."

What happened in "the county office?" Did you update your registration? change your address? correct an error in your registration? discuss a provisional ballot?

Thank you.

[PurgedVoter]

53. I first found out I was purged when I went to vote.

They gave me a provisional ballet. That would only be counted if the election was close. There is of course no feed back on this.
I went to the county registrar and got back on the ballet. I asked the reason and it was, "You moved addresses." This was not the actual case. Then I did move and made sure I was registered with the new address. At another election, I found out I was purged. Because I had moved. I registered again and I was purged because my name was similar to a criminals name. Or so they say. Pretty unlikely and no records I could find that a criminal with my name lived in the county. This was the last time I was purged.

[OldRedneck]

25. Please -- everyone take a deep breath.

I'm the Electoral Board secretary in a rural Virginia county; have been on the Board for seven years.

Most of us, when we move, file a change of address notice with the Post Office. That information goes into the National Change of Address registry. Once a year, the USPS sends to the states a list of all address changes in the state -- people who moved into the state, out of the state, or within the state. The states then sort this information by locality and send to each city or county the address change info for people in their jurisdictions.

The local voter registrars are REQUIRED BY FEDERAL LAW to contact the people on that list to verify their address. After receiving a notice from their local registrar, if the voter does not respond, that voter is flagged as INACTIVE. If the inactive voter DOES NOT VOTE IN TWO CONSECUTIVE FEDERAL ELECTIONS, their name is removed from the voting rolls.

You can be flagged as INACTIVE if: (1) you are on the NCOA list; (2) you have not voted in two consecutive federal elections, or, (3) you have not responded to official mail from the registrar

If you are marked INACTIVE and you show up at the polls to vote, you will be able to cast a provisional ballot. Then -- in Virginia, I don't know about other states -- you have until noon of the Friday after the election to come to the registrar's office, meet with the Electoral Board, and show us why your vote should be counted and why you are not an INACTIVE voter. In our case, we bend over backwards to count provisional ballots. If, as in this case, the voter has moved but did not update their address with the registrar, one of two things will happen:
(1) If the new address is in the precinct where the voter lived before moving, their ballot is counted and the voter is required to fill out a new registration form with their correct address, the INACTIVE flag is removed;
(2) if the voter has, in fact, moved from their original precinct, their provisional IS NOT counted because you cannot vote in a precinct that is not your home precinct; the voter is required to update their address, the INACTIVE designation is removed, and they can vote AT THEIR NEW PRECINCT in future elections

Our registrar . . . and every other registrar I know . . . goes beyond what is required to try to contact people whose addresses have changed . . . follow-up letters and phone calls, everything except driving out to their old/new address.

In our county, we received the NCOA list six weeks ago and sent out 93 letters -- which is 1% of our 9,400 registered voters. We are a small rural county with very little population change -- no one moves here. According to the linked article, the 380,000 is 6.5% of Georgia's registered voters. That may sound high, but, remember, this includes:
(1) people on the NCOA list who moved in, out, around Georgia;
(2) people who have not voted in two consecutive federal elections (dead, moved away, moved into nursing home, just didn't vote)
(3) people who have not responded to official mailings.

Why do you need to update your voter registration if you moved within your county? Because -- you may have moved INTO ANOTHER PRECINCT and you need to vote in that precinct, not in the place you've been voting for 20 years -- you don't get to do that. You may have moved WITHIN YOUR PRECINCT -- still, your registration needs to reflect your current correct address because that helps identify you and enables the registrar to contact you if need be.

Now, I'm not trying to say the Republicans are not engaged in trying -- and often succeeding -- to prevent people from voting. The record is clear that they are doing exactly that, using all means fair or foul and some we haven't even thought of yet.

DU ADMINISTRATORS: Before you delete my comment as attacking other posters, I AM NOT ATTACKING ANYONE. I am explaining the system. It may be that Georgia Republicans are doing something evil. On the other hand, it may be this is normal registration list maintenance. If we Democrats hyperventilate at every alleged "crime," then we become the boy who cried "Wolf." THAT is what I'm saying.

[Hoyt]

37. Your post is right on. Too many Democrats grouse about stuff that really isn't a problem,

especially if people get out and vote.

If someone hasn't voted in two federal elections, responded to mail, etc., or has moved out of the District, I don't have any problem with removing them from the registration rolls. Besides, nowadays, in most states, it's very easy to get reinstated. Honestly, I don't understand why our local Democrats aren't getting out the vote and helping people check their registration if they haven't voted in awhile. That 40% that didn't vote in November and in the 6th District of Georgia in June, is what costs us elections.

[Hortensis]

32. We both got one. Speculated, wrongly, that it was triggered

by having our mail forwarded to Florida for the winter. How old will I be before I stop underestimating the numbers and commitment of people who are actually opposed to our democracy?

Oh, well. We already planned to follow up the mail-in by driving down to the registrar's office and make sure we're registered. Not entirely clueless.

[workinclasszero]

36. So begins the republican dictatorship of America

They already have in place their propaganda networks of Fox 'news', Hate radio and the 1% control the MSM outlets.

They already have a vast network of radical militant republican Jesus political churches to fight the 'liberal devil'.

They already have the help of Russian dictator Putin and his state cyberwar apparatus.

They already have in place gerrymandered districts across America. Trump is waging war against our IC and the rule of law, today and every day.

They already have a large network of terrorists ready to kill the 'heathen liberals' at a moments notice. Oath Keepers, KKK, Nazis, skinheads, right wing militias all across America.

All they have to do now is disenfranchise millions of democratic voters and the deal is done!

I never in my wildest nightmares thought I'd live to see American freedom and democracy die right in front of my eyes and not a shot fired or a warning given by the so called free press.

If these conditions are not changed radically in 2018 this country will become the fourth fucking reich! Hell Trump might just declare himself Fuhrer for life like his pal Putin seems to be thinking about.

There is a frightening darkness spreading across the land and I for one am scared to death of it!

Am I nuts? Overreacting? Delusional? I think this country is one Reichstag fire away from right wing imposed dictatorship and slavery!

If I am wrong someone please talk me down!

[NBachers]

38. Democrats... Looking for a way to connect with voters???

[IronLionZion]

39. Too many Democrats and minorities moving in?

I suppose they're trying to make many states great again like during Jim Crow.

[trueblue2007]

40. THIS IS TOTAL CRAP!!!!!

THIS IS TOTAL CRAP!!!!! I will tell you, if I got a letter like that, I would go down to Multnomah County Election office and raise HOLY HELL !!!!!!

[SunSeeker]

41. K & R for exposure.

[barbtries]

44. bet what she really said

was this is bullshit. which it is.

[Judi Lynn]

46. They won't stop until only Republicans can vote. So do we all say we're Republicans?

A face glowing with ill will.

[burrowowl]

47. k&R!!!!!!

[Honeycombe8]

48. Would like to know % of them who are Dems. nt

[7962]

49. I got one of those. 2 other friends did as well.

Only thing we had in common was an address change. although not out of the area I was already in.
Filled it out and sent it back in.

[oasis]

50. Wake up America and pay attention.

[Gothmog]

51. There will be litigation on these purges

[Gothmog]

52. ACLU Threatens Action Against Georgia Over Voter Confirmation Notices

The first threat of litigation http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/georgia-voter-purge_us_5977af30e4b0e201d5793033?section=us_politics

The American Civil Liberties Union is threatening legal action against Georgia over what it calls “intimidating” letters asking voters to confirm their address. The ACLU says tens of thousands of Georgia voters who moved within the same county were illegally told they would be considered “inactive” unless they responded to a notice confirming their address.

The dispute centers around whether election officials can send a confirmation notice to individuals who move within the same county, threatening to make them “inactive” voters unless they respond in 30 days. The ACLU says in cases when someone moves within the same election jurisdiction, state officials are obligated to automatically update the rolls and voters shouldn’t have to take any action to stay in the rolls.

In Fulton county, election officials sent 48,954 notices to people who had moved in the area in the past two years and submitted a change of address form to the U.S. Postal Service, but did not update their voter registration information. In a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) this month, the ACLU alleged the notices were a violation of federal and state voting law, which they said requires officials to update voter registrations on their own when someone moves within the same election jurisdiction.

The notice gives voters 30 days to return it to state election officials confirming their information. If they fail to return it, the notice tells them they will be placed on a list of “inactive” voters. Being an inactive voter in Georgia does not block someone from voting, but initiates the years-long process by which a voter can be kicked off the rolls.