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Topic: Georgia 40,000 minority voter registrations lost

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Applications Submitted by Blacks and Hispanics Disappear in Ga.

If the secretary of state doesn’t find out what happened to those applications, he’ll have to answer to a judge.


By: Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele

Posted: Oct. 16 2014 7:54 AM



Editor’s note: According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,​ nearly 40,000 voter-registration applications in Georgia that were unaccounted for have been found and processed, and those applicants are now registered to vote. Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp also said on Thursday that another 10,000 or so applications need more information about the identities of the applicants before they are cleared. ​


It’s one thing to misplace your keys, your wallet, a receipt from Macy’s or your favorite pen, but Georgia’s secretary of state cannot account for approximately 40,000 voter-registration applications that, if processed, would enfranchise predominantly black and Hispanic Georgians.


According to an Al-Jazeera report, it’s a sentiment that the staffers at Third Sector Development are expressing. The nonprofit organization was on a mission to register as many black and Hispanic people in the state of Georgia as possible so that voter turnout for the upcoming midterm elections in November would be high. And they were successful at it, until they received word that about half of the applications they submitted for processing have gone missing in action.


“Over the last few months, the group submitted some 80,000 voter-registration forms to the Georgia secretary of state’s office—but as of last week, about half those new registrants, more than 40,000 Georgians, were still not listed on preliminary voter rolls. And there is no public record of those 40,000-plus applications, according to state Rep. Stacey Adams, a Democrat,” Al-Jazeera explained.


Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp explained that his office is not doing anything differently from how it usually processes applications. But some people aren’t buying his story, seeing as how he’s a Republican, and black and Hispanic people tend to vote for Democrats.


Georgia Republicans have been raising eyebrows for some time now with regard to early voting and voter-ID issues. One state Republican didn’t like how black and Hispanic voters had easy access to early-voting opportunities.

The “Republican whip of the state Senate complained that DeKalb County, Ga., was making it too easy for minorities to vote by allowing early voting in an area mall close to many predominantly African-American churches,” Think Progress reports.


Third Sector Development is not taking lightly the news that no one knows what became of its hard work to get people to register to vote. The group is going to court so that a judge can look into it.


“To that end, Third Sector Development announced yesterday that, after weeks of fruitless negotiations with the state, they were going to court to find out the status of the missing registrations—or, more to the point, the eligibility of more than 40,000 potential voters,” Al-Jazeera reports.


Read more at Al-Jazeera and Think Progress.


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Last edited by untanglingwebs on Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
Post Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:11 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Think Progress shared a link.


BREAKING: Court Refuses To Intervene In Case of 40,000 Missing Voters In Georgia


"I feel absolutely sick that this election is being stolen," say the volunteers who registered the...


thinkprogress.org
..

Richard Schatten


How convenient to refuse to intervene...especially if the 40,000 Missing Voters from the Public Database represents primarily Blacks, Hispanics, and Youth Votes...translation: Democrats! Oh! the wonders of the computer age...the "Delete" button!

When you have a Republican Secretary of State...the person who Certifies the Election...determined to obstruct the Rights of 40,000 citizens, by simply not making even an effort, into making a Database Recovery. And you have a Republican appointed Judge Christopher Basher, a Judge rated by the Bar Association at the bottom of the barrel, among the worst rated in the Country. So! when you get 2 good old Georgia Crackers together, what do you expect? Bingo!


Christopher Basher is a Judge who's had multiple complaints made against him to the Georgia Bar, including; "Conspiracy and utilizing the legal administration of the court to aid and abet major insurance corporations in defrauding disaster victims of insurance compensation". Those are serious Criminal charges in the Peach State, or anywhere else...but it's never been investigated by the Georgia Bar.

40,000 missing votes, though closer to 56,000 according to the latest tally from different groups and associations...sounds like a Sunshine State experience! In Florida, they found them inside the Waste Management dumpsters in the back of a shopping center. Republicans are just attracted to garbage...in one form or another.

40,000 Georgians are disenfranchised of their basic human right. 600,000 more in Texas. Who's next? If you can't win on your own merits...on your platform, or even on your sparkling personality!...and you have absolutely no written plans, that you can present to your public...go for emotions of hate and fear. When nothing works...suppress the Vote! A suppression of 640,000+ voters? It's working!
Post Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:49 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

40,000 Voter Registrations Have Mysteriously Vanished, Could Determine Control Of The Senate

BREAKING: Court Refuses To Intervene In Case of 40,000 Missing Voters In Georgia


by Alice Ollstein Posted on October 28, 2014 at 4:14 pm

"BREAKING: Court Refuses To Intervene In Case of 40,000 Missing Voters In Georgia"


Dr. Francys Johnson with the NAACP leads an occupation of the Georgia State Capitol to protest voter suppression.

CREDIT: Alice Ollstein

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—On Tuesday, Judge Christopher Brasher of the Fulton County Superior Court denied a petition from civil rights advocates to force Georgia’s Secretary of State to process an estimated 40,000 voter registrations that have gone missing from the public database.


Though early voting is well underway in the state, Judge Brasher called the lawsuit “premature,” and said it was based on “merely set out suspicions and fears that the [state officials] will fail to carry out their mandatory duties.”

Angela Aldridge, an organizer with the group 9 to 5 Atlanta Working Women who has been working to register voters for several months, told ThinkProgress she was “furious” when she learned of the outcome: “That impedes people’s rights,” she said. “People need information before they go out to vote and they don’t even know if they’re registered or not. They were discouraged, upset, kind of frazzled, not really knowing what was going on. What can you even say to people who want to vote but possibly can’t? They might get disengaged and say, ‘Why vote? It doesn’t matter.’ It’s really disheartening.”

The New Georgia Project, who spearheaded the voter registration drive and brought the lawsuit against the state, vowed Tuesday to “continue to pursue all legal avenues available.” But with the election mere days away, there may be little remedy for the tens of thousands of people who submitted all necessary documents, but have still not received a registration card. Four of those impacted voters were present at the court hearing, but were denied the opportunity to testify.

Dr. Francys Johnson, President of the Georgia NAACP, who represented the 40 thousand voters in the court, called the ruling “outrageous.”

“All in all – a republican appointed judge has backed the republican Secretary of State to deny the right to vote to a largely African American and Latino population,” Johnson wrote in a press release.

On Monday, dozens of Georgians occupied the Secretary of State’s office to demand he meet with them and explain what happened to the tens of thousands of missing registrations. At that protest, in which eight activists were arrested, former American Government teacher and civil rights lawyer Marsha Burrofsky told ThinkProgress she suspects foul play.

“When we started registering people this spring, people were saying, ‘You know, I registered six months ago, but I haven’t gotten anything yet!’ We thought that was strange,” she said. So we sat down with our list of registrations and checked, and about 20 to 20 percent were not showing up. We truly don’t know where things stand with them.”

Burrofsky said the people she registered in Dunwoody, Georgia, a more affluent and conservative community, did show up in the system, while those in more diverse and low-income communities in DeKalb County mysteriously disappeared.

“It just hadn’t occurred to me that this would be a tactic that the Secretary of State could use. I was very naive, I guess. I feel absolutely sick that this election is being stolen,” she said.

With the races for the state’s governor’s mansion and Senate seat too close to call, the missing voters could not only sway the political control of the state, but the political control of Congress’ upper chamber. Aldridge, who has spent several months registering voters in Fulton and Cobb County, told ThinkProgress that it is imperative to increase participation in marginalized communities so that elected officials better represent the constituents.

“I don’t believe that the government represents the whole state yet,” she said. “The politicians always say, ‘These are our values.’ But it has nothing to do with my personal values! That’s why we have to get out to vote, to make sure our state represents our values.”

Longtime Atlanta resident Atuarra McCaslin with Moral Monday Georgia, who organized Monday’s action, summed up his feelings on the situation. “It’s an unjust thing going on, he said. “Those 40,000 now can’t participate in the voting process, even though it’s their right as citizens. The Secretary of State doesn’t really care about those 40,000 people, who are primarily people of color and youth. Those kids have been waking up politically, and now their voices are going unheard. It’s just not right.”
Post Tue Oct 28, 2014 11:54 pm 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office failed to process tens of thousands of voter registration cards — mostly in heavily African-American counties — before the election, and it’s causing confusion at the polls.

Ga. Voter’s Address Change Never Went Through


Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office failed to process tens of thousands of voter registration cards - mostly in heavily African-American counties ...


youtube.com

Published on Nov 4, 2014


Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office failed to process tens of thousands of voter registration cards - mostly in heavily African-American counties - before the election, and it’s causing confusion at the polls. Karl Ragland and his wife moved to Atlanta from elsewhere in the state earlier in the year and submitted a change of address form to the Board of Elections. But when they showed up at their new polling place in Atlanta, they learned that the form had never been processed. Karl has to drive 35 miles to Covington to vote, causing him to miss up to two hours of work.

“I am going to vote today,” Karl said.

.
Post Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:26 am 
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twotap
F L I N T O I D

It takes Karl up to 2 hours to drive 70 miles?? Laughing Hey Karl this stuff is only supposed to happen to white Repub voters no wonder you're upset. Laughing Laughing Laughing

_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times.
Post Wed Nov 05, 2014 9:06 am 
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Center for American Progress


Press Room » November 2014


RELEASE: Following Reports of Barriers to Voting, CAP Issues Letter to Georgia Secretary of State Calling for Immediate Action

November 4, 2014


Contact: Benton Strong
Phone: 202.481.8142
Email: bstrong@americanprogress.org

Washington, D.C. — Today, following reports of barriers to voting in Georgia, the Center for American Progress issued a letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp calling for immediate action to ensure all eligible voters have uninhibited access to the polls and can exercise their legal and constitutional right to vote.

Reports from Georgia reveal that the state’s website with vital voter information went down on Tuesday, and the polling location on Georgia Tech’s campus is charging voters for parking in order to vote there.

“Egregious voting issues reported in Georgia today are simply unacceptable and need immediate attention from local officials. Georgia officials need to address the fact that voters in their state at Georgia Tech polling locations are effectively being charged to cast their votes” said Michele L. Jawando, Vice President of Legal Progress at the Center for American Progress. “Georgia’s history of voter suppression in this election cycle—including tens of thousands of Georgians facing voter registration barriers earlier this year—make the call to address voting issues reported on the ground today all the more urgent.”

Read the letter here and below.


November 4, 2014

Brian P. Kemp,
Georgia Secretary of State,
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Suite 802 Floyd West Tower,
Atlanta, Georgia, 30334

Dear Secretary Kemp,

RE: Election Administration Issues

The right to vote is a core tenet of our citizenship. As Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. explains, “There is no right more basic in our democracy than the right to participate in electing our political leaders.” McCutcheon v. FEC, 134 S. Ct. 1434, 1440-41 (2014). This protection is enshrined in the 15th Amendment, which prohibits states from denying the right to vote based on race, and in several state constitutions.

Today, however, there is evidence of barriers to voting in Georgia that need to be immediately addressed. For example, there are reports that your website, touted as a way for voters to find their polling locations, was down this morning. Another report indicates that voters were required to pay for parking at Georgia Tech’s student center polling location and voters left polling locations because of excessively long lines. Today’s disturbing reports come after a lawsuit was filed alleging that upwards of 40,000 voter registrations from three Georgia counties have gone missing.

The examples of long lines, missing registrations, and a disabled voter information website makes it clear that voters in Georgia are not freely able to exercise this most cherished right. We call upon the secretary of state’s office and the county board of elections to investigate and address these issues immediately to ensure that Georgians can exercise their legal right to vote.

Georgia’s Courts have long upheld the importance of an unabridged right for eligible Georgians to vote. As described by the Georgia Supreme Court, “The right to vote is fundamental, forming the bedrock of our democracy. However, it is also clear that states are entitled to broad leeway in enacting reasonable, even-handed legislation to ensure that elections are carried out in a fair and orderly manner.” Favorito v. Handel, 285 Ga. 795, 796 (Ga. 2009) (citations omitted).

As the Presidential Commission on Election Administration noted, there are problems with voter registration, access to the polls, polling place management, and voting technology that need to be addressed. We concur.

The same concern extends to casting provisional ballots, which become even more relevant as these suppressive laws are implemented. As the Center for American Progress found, counties with a higher percentage of minorities cast provisional ballots at a higher rate than in counties with lower percentage of minorities in 16 states. We were unable, however, to evaluate Georgia in our analysis. Shockingly, Georgia was the only state to have incomplete county-level provisional ballot Election Assistance Commission data after it was required.

To ensure that Georgians can exercise their legal right to vote, immediate action must be taken to address these concerns.

Sincerely,

Michele L. Jawando

Related resources:
◾Uncounted Votes: The Racially Discriminatory Effects of Provisional Ballots by Joshua Field, Charles Posner, and Anna Chu
◾Women of Color: A Growing Force in the American Electorate by Maya Harris
◾Voters of Color fact sheets by Jamal Hagler

For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Benton Strong at bstrong@americanprogress.org or 202.481.8142.

###


To speak with our experts on this topic, please contact:

Print: Allison Preiss (economy, education, poverty)
202.478.6331 or apreiss@americanprogress.org

Print: Tom Caiazza (foreign policy, health care, energy and environment, LGBT issues, gun-violence prevention)
Post Fri Nov 07, 2014 8:31 am 
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