LAWRENCEVILLE, GA–Today the Georgia NAACP in coalition with the Gwinnett NAACP through their Attorneys at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL) notified the Georgia Secretary of State and Gwinnett County that the County has been illegally sustaining pre-election challenges to the eligibility of registered voters, and that continuing to do so for thousands of recent mass challenges will violate state and federal law. Attonerys, from the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, sent the letter on behalf of coaliton which includes the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, Gwinnett County Branch of the NAACP, GALEO Latino Community Development Fund, Inc., Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, Inc., League of Women Voters of Georgia, and Common Cause. This formal notice letter is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
The notice letter explains that any action by the Gwinnett County Board of Elections and Registration (BORE) to sustain residency-based mass challenges without rigorous individualized examination fails to comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). Such actions also contravene the NVRA’s ban on systematically removing voters from election rolls within 90 days of an election.
The thousands of challenges to registered voters are an intended consequence of the enactment of SB 202, Georgia’s 2021 omnibus voter suppression bill, to create more barriers to the ballot box, particularly in counties, such as Gwinnett, with significant populations of Black, Latinx, AAPI and other voters of color, and in counties with increasingly diverse electorates.
Eligible Gwinnett County voters who have received a notification from the BORE that their voter eligibility has been challenged should contact the Gwinnett County Board of Registration and Elections and its election staff directly as soon as possible. LCCRUL will continue to monitor developments and remains committed to protecting the rights of Georgia voters.
You may read the letter LCCRUL sent to the BORE and the Georgia Secretary of State here.
“In the past, we’ve experienced too many times what happens in major elections Whenever there’s an existential threat to the ballot, the Georgia State Conference of NAACP will respond,” Gerald Griggs, Georgia NAACP President.
The Georgia NAACP proudly stands with its partners in this potential litigation to protect the rights of thousands of potential voters that will be adversely impacted by such action. It is our hope that the BORE will fully comply with the NVRA moving forward.
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