Ga.’s Secretary of State Brian Kemp Added As Defendant In Voter Purge Lawsuit

By Miranda Hawkins | WABE | December 19, 2018

A Fulton County Superior Court judge has added Georgia’s Secretary of State as a defendant in a voter purge lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is suing Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections and now Secretary of State Brian Kemp, too.

The suit claims about 160,000 voters in Fulton County who had moved within the county got 30-day notices to update their addresses or be taken off the active voter list.

However, Georgia law states if a voter moves within the same county, it’s the state’s responsibility to update the voter’s address.

Sean Young, the legal director of ACLU of Georgia, said after the lawsuit was filed against Fulton’s elections board, they learned the notices were sent out under the direction of the SOS’s office.

“We don’t want anyone to be able to argue, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s them,’” said Young. “Elections officials need to get this right. And whoever’s in charge, they need to make this right.”

WABE’s legal analyst Page Pate said the notices could be chalked up to oversight or it could be an “intentional effort to disenfranchise a certain population of voters.” He doesn’t believe this lawsuit will answer the “how” but it will make it harder to argue “oversight” if a similar case pops up down the road.

The Secretary of State’s office declined comment on being added to the suit.

A judge is scheduled to hear the case Feb. 5.