For immediate release: September 28, 2022
Press contact: Dorrie Toney, [email protected]
ATLANTA — Today the ACLU of Georgia sent a letter to the Gwinnett County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections urging it to dismiss several thousand voter challenges filed in late August. These recent challenges are akin to efforts in other counties by third-party groups, aiming to circumvent the state and federal processes that protect the accuracy of voter rolls.
Continuing to investigate these challenges is illegal because:
- the challengers have already failed to meet their burden of proof under state law;
- federal law prohibits the systematic removal of voters within 90 days of an election; and
- any further inquiry into these baseless mass challenges violates the process laid out by state law.
“Election workers in Gwinnett County and across the state are working harder than ever to administer elections in an increasingly difficult environment,” said Rahul Garabadu, Senior Voting Rights Attorney at the ACLU of Georgia. “County elections offices should not be commandeered to investigate thousands of baseless challenges that attempt to bypass state and federal law. Gwinnett County has already done its due diligence with respect to these challenges, and now it must dismiss all pending challenges.”
The ACLU of Georgia sees these challenges for what they are—attempts to disenfranchise voters at the eleventh hour. The ACLU of Georgia will continue to actively monitor and challenge these unlawful actions in order to protect the right to vote for all eligible Georgians.
Read the letter to the Gwinnett County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections.
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