ATLANTA (CNN) A new move from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has voting rights groups in an uproar. The state may purge as many as 315,000 voters from official voting lists.
“And it’s just not fair for people to constantly have to be faced with these kind of voter cancellations,” said Andrea Young, ACLU of Georgia.
Young says the Secretary of State’s office should be doing everything it can to help voters, not hinder them.
“It’s almost feels like hostility to Georgia voters, there are duly registered Georgia citizens,” said Young.
Back in 2017, the state eliminated more than a half a million voters – the largest purge in history.
“The last time we challenged this practice by the Secretary of State there were thousands and thousands of these notices were sent in error, and so it’s very important that people CHECK and make sure that mistakes are not being made on their registrations to keep them current and protect their right to vote,” Young warned.
Now the Secretary of State’s Office is looking at the names of 315,000 voters it says some have filed change of address with the postal service but not updated voter registration information. Others have not responded to attempts to get new address information and about 39 percent of all the names considered for cancellation have had no interaction for 8 to ten years. This may include not responding to mail from the state but it may also include not voting.
“But to purge people for not voting – Georgia doesn’t always make it easy to vote, there could be any number of reasons why people don’t vote, in the last election for example there were long lines,” Young said.
The ACLU says voters should check their registration online with the state to make sure they stay active.
“And so it’s very important that people CHECK and make sure that mistakes are not being made on their registrations to keep them current and protect their right to vote,” said Young.