PRESS ADVISORY ACLU OF GEORGIA LEGAL DIRECTOR TO SPEAK TODAY AT GEORGIA ELECTION BOARD MEETING

Sean J. Young, legal director of the ACLU of Georgia, will speak at the Georgia Election Board meeting that begins at 9:00am this morning. The meeting location is in the State Capitol Building Room 341.

The ACLU of Georgia’s remarks focus on two issues that have plagued Georgia’s elections and bruised its reputation: long lines on Election Day, particularly in lower-income communities and the belated processing of absentee ballots.

“Though state statutes and indifferent elections officials are to blame for many of the problems, the State Election Board has the opportunity to seriously tackle these issues by revising the regulations,” said Sean J. Young, legal director of the ACLU of Georgia. “We have put forth four recommendations that the board can implement to further ensure that all Georgia citizens can exercise their sacred, constitutional right to vote.”

1. All polling places must be tested well in advance to ensure that they can carry the substantial electrical capacity required for electronic poll books and new voting machines.
2. The regulations must provide that emergency paper ballots be available to all voters in case of an emergency, such as malfunctioning machines.
3. The regulations should require every polling place to have an easy mechanism for poll workers to determine a voter’s correct polling place, such as visiting the “My Voter Page” website, and poll workers should be required to tell voters that if it is not practicable to go to the correct polling place, then the voter may cast a provisional ballot on the spot.
4. The regulations should require that all absentee ballot applications, absentee ballots, and registration forms, be processed within 24 hours of receipt, and that voters be called or e-mailed immediately if there are any problems.

Media contact: Ana Maria Rosato, [email protected]