ACLU of Georgia Puts Chatham County on Notice Over Threats to Purge Voters from Rolls

Affiliate: ACLU of Georgia
August 8, 2017 1:30 pm

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ATLANTA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia put Chatham County on notice today over letters sent to Thunderbolt resident Jennifer Hill and other voters threatening to remove them from the voter rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

Last month, the Chatham County Board of Registrars sent a letter to Hill stating that because Thunderbolt claimed she no longer lived in the municipality, she would be immediately “removed from the list of registered voters” if she did not appear at a hearing on August 30, 2017. No evidence was provided to substantiate Thunderbolt’s claim. In fact, Hill has continued to live in Thunderbolt for the last 3 years.

In a notice of intent to sue sent today to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp and the Chatham County Board of Registrars, the ACLU said the letters violate the NVRA, which prohibits the removal of voters from the rolls on the ground that they have changed residence unless certain strict requirements, such as a two- to four-year waiting period, are met.

“This is exactly what the NVRA was designed to prevent – voters getting kicked off the rolls without any protections based on an unsubstantiated suspicion that they’ve moved,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. “If the election authorities don’t correct this violation, we will see them in court.”

A copy of the letter is online here: https://www.acluga.org/sites/default/files/hill_letter_8-8-17.pdf

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