Perdue Signs Voter Citizenship Bill

Georgians could soon be required to prove they are U.S. citizens to register to vote under a bill signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue. The new law Perdue signed on Tuesday makes Georgia just the second state in the nation - behind Arizona - to require prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship. The bill must still receive preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act. The new requirement would kick in beginning in 2010 for newly registering voters. Critics called the measure a poll tax. Supporters said it's needed to prevent fraud.

(Associated Press)

"Flagged" voters can cast ballots

Thousands of Georgians with voter eligibility in question will get to cast ballots in next week’s election--that word from a panel of federal judges. The process of state election officials continuing verification of new voter registration applicants will continue, pending preclearance from U.S. Justice officials.

The panel ruled Georgia needed to get U.S. Justice Department approval before implementation of a new process to use Social Security numbers and data from drivers licenses to check voters’ immigration status. Georgia is one of several states requiring federal approval before a change to election policy, as required by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The federal ruling says the Secretary of State’s office must notify those Georgians whose registration is flagged. Those people will be allowed to cast "challenged ballots"--paper ballots put aside until a discrepancy is resolved. The District Court ruling also states no names can be removed from voter lists until a person admits in writing they are ineligible to vote.

Handel responds to lawsuit

Secretary of State Karen Handel says a federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of voter groups against her office is an "orchestrated attempt to dismantle" Georgia’s voter ID process.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Cherokee County man who they say is a victim of voter discrimination—claiming naturalized citizens are unfairly targeted. The suit claims state elections officials did not get federally-required approval for new voter registration policies.

Handel responded, saying the groups want to open the door to allow non-citizens to register to vote in November’s general election. She says safeguards in the verification process are legal, and help ensure only those eligible can vote.

But Jon Greenbaum disagrees—he’s with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

"Not only did they fail to get pre-clearance for the changes, not only are voters being purged within 90 days of a federal election, but the database itself has massive problems".

This lawsuit follows a ruling from the U.S. Department of Justice this week. It said Georgia’s action to verify citizenship using Social Security numbers violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

First time voter registration in Georgia increases for blacks but decreases for whites

For the first time in history, an African-American has a good shot at becoming president.

And with voter registration ending today, statistics from the Georgia secretary of state's office show that the number of blacks registering for the first time has increased significantly over 2004.

The number of black men registering for the first time in Georgia increased by 33 percent from 2004.

The number of black women registering increased by 22 percent.

Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, says that thanks, in part, to a push by campaign of the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, to register black voters.

"When you consider that probably 95 percent or so of African-Americans who turn out to vote in November will vote for Obama, it gives you an awfully strong incentive to try to maximize the number of registrants," says Bullock.

But the number of white voters registering in Georgia for the first time decreased, in spite of major election issues, such as the economic crisis this election year.

The number of white men registering for the first time decreased by seven percent.

And as for white women, even the selection of Sarah Palin to run for vice president on the Republican ticket didn't help.

The number of white women registering for the first time decreased by 11 percent in Georgia.

The voter registration numbers are current as of October 1.

Last day for voter registration

Today is the final day to register to vote in Georgia, ahead of November’s general election. All signs point to this being a robust season for new voters on the rolls. The Secretary of State’s office reports that through the middle of last week, over 405,000 Georgians had registered from the beginning of this year. That’s a spike of over 35,000 more than the same period in 2004--the year of the last presidential election.

State officials remind those wishing to register that forms can be downloaded from the Secretary of State’s office website. Forms can also be picked up from your county’s registrars office, and other locations such as libraries and post offices.

Early voting thus far "a success"

Early voting has been underway for a week, and the Secretary of State calls it a success. Georgians can cast ballots at local election offices or by mail. Over 100,000 people did that last week. Secretary of State Karen Handel is pleased.

"Very robust turnout so far which is exactly what we were hoping for so we could help ease those election day pressures".

Handel's goal is to get 25-percent of all votes cast before election day in November. She expects around 4-million Georgians to vote this year. And while campaigns across the state push to register voters, she says the registration pattern looks normal heading into th presidential election.

The last day to register to vote is October 6th. Early voting ends October 31st.

Columbus: voter turnout 'extremely low'

Turnout in Columbus for today's Senate and local runoff races is “extremely low,” as of 4 p.m. according to Director of Elections, Nancy Boren.

“Some voting stations had less than 100 people turn out,” Boren said. Earlier in the day, she had predicted no more than a five percent turnout, "if that."

There are 48 voting stations in Muscogee County.

Georgia voters will decide between DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones and former state lawmaker Jim Martin in the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate.

The winner of Tuesday's runoff will face Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.

Besides the Senate race, voters will pick Democratic and Republican candidates in a number of state and local offices.

Click here for more on this report, and GPB News election coverage.

Voter drive misinformation alleged

A national voting rights group accused some Georgia counties of violating national laws by giving out false information to organizers of voter drives. Now the Georgia Secretary of State’s office has stepped-in to ensure registration runs legally.

The group Advancement Project works to protect voting rights for people in low-income and minority communities. Brad Heard is senior attorney for the group. He says they’ve received complaints from organizers of drives in Georgia:

"The information suggested anything from the fact you had to get a deputy registrar assigned to your drive and permission for the drive. In another case, registrars were saying it was a felony to conduct a voter registration drive without permission".

That in fact is not true. Two years ago, a federal consent order struck down these restrictions.

A letter sent by the voter watchdog group to Georgia elections officials mentions a handful of counties that it says was providing misleading information. One was Ware County--its elections supervisor is Betty Gillis:

"We did get a letter from them, but we’re in compliance so we’re good".

Some erroneous information was supposedly on county elections websites. One county did admit to wrong information on its 'frequently asked questions' page, which has since been corrected.

With this being a presidential election year, groups like Advancement Project are pushing to remove real and perceived barriers. Heard says they want to get as many people signed up to vote:

"We don’t want to discourage that process by the misperception that registering these folks is going to be an onerous process so that you have to jump through so many hoops at the county level before you’re authorized to do it".

State elections officials say in a statement they have contacted the counties in question, and are sending clarification letters to all local elections officials in Georgia’s 159 counties.

Voter registration up in Georgia

State elections officials say just over 210-thousand Georgians have been added to the voter-rolls. The Secretary of State’s office reports there has been a seven-percent jump in registration in the last year. Since the 2004 presidential election, that rise has been nine-percent. The big gains have been recorded among black and Hispanic voters.

Fulton Co. could pay for losing voter registration cards

Hundreds of thousands of voter registration cards in Fulton County ended up in the trash. Now elections officials there could face penalties. County officials said the 93,000 records were inadvertently dumped when the county moved from one storage center to another. Secretary of State Karen Handel has asked the Attorney General’s office to advise her office on how and whether to hold Fulton County accountable.

GA Latino group seeks voters

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials is ramping up an Hispanic voter-registration drive aimed at upcoming 2008 elections.

Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO executive director told reporters:

"We are actively registering voters from now until October 2008," said "We started it early because of municipal elections, plus the presidential primary in February."

GALEO estimates that there are some 70,000 Latino voters statewide, and another 20,000 who will reach voting age by the 2008 elections, according to a report appearing in the Gainesville Times.

GALEO homepage
GALEO English-language voter registration website: "It is the hour"