Executive Summary

In Georgia, political figures from statewide elected officials and state legislators to county
election board members on the local level, have introduced voter suppression initiatives that
make it increasingly difficult for minority voters to exercise their rights to vote. The motivation
behind these efforts has often been admittedly partisan with many officials articulating the
political benefit of restricting access to the ballot. At times, many of these same officials have
expressed vile, racially charged sentiments to justify their policies or advance their politics.

A host of voter suppression policies have already been implemented in Georgia, including voter
ID laws, proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration, cutting back on early and
Sunday voting, and strict restrictions on the voting rights of felons. Despite the broad range of
polices already enacted, there is little reason to believe these officials wont pursue additional
ways to suppress the vote.

Research has shown that voter suppressions policies, like forcing residents to show
identification before casting a ballot or requiring eligible voters to prove their U.S. citizenship
with a birth certificate in order to register to vote, disproportionately affect minority voters, as
well as senior citizens, the disabled, and low-income voters.

While some politicians tout rampant voter fraud as the rationale behind such restrictive
policies, in reality there is no evidence of widespread, fraudulent voting taking place in Georgia
or in any other state. Instead, Georgia officials who advocate for voter suppression policies
have openly expressed political motivations for disenfranchising minority voters, who are more
likely to vote Democratic in elections.

Voter suppression efforts in Georgia are being pushed by prominent statewide elected officials,
like Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Governor Nathan Deal. Kemp, who has pointed out that
minority voter registration drives could hurt Georgia Republicans in elections, has repeatedly
targeted for investigation voter registration and turnout efforts focused on minority voters,
despite a history of finding little to no evidence of fraud. The secretary of states office also has
faced numerous mismanagement issues, including a massive data breach that released the
personal information of every registered Georgia voter, and an illegal purge of 8,000 eligible
voters from the voting rolls. Governor Deal has backed Kemps suppression efforts.

While statewide elected officials like Secretary of State Kemp and Governor Deal are the most
prominent figures advocating for voter suppression policies throughout Georgia, state
legislators and county election officials on the local level also have important roles in shaping
voting and election policies. Unfortunately, many of these officials actively support voter
suppression policies, openly voicing political motivations for disenfranchising minority voters.
Even more troubling, these state and local officials are rarely held accountable for
inappropriate partisan statements, or their racially charged and offensive comments made on
social media, that demonstrate a lack of objectivity in protecting the rights of ALL voters.

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Voter suppression policies disenfranchise minority voters in Georgia, making it difficult and
sometimes impossible for them to exercise their constitutional rights to vote. The offensive and
partisan statements made by advocates should not be overlooked when evaluating their
proposals to make voting less accessible for Georgians.

This report examines recent voter suppression initiatives in Georgia and sheds light on the
players behind these efforts and the problematic political and sometimes racially charged
motivations that shape their decisions. Statewide elected officials and several state legislators
notable for voter suppression actions were investigated, as were local election boards in the
most Georgias most populous counties, highlighting those with particularly problematic
election board members. This report provides an overview of current voter suppression issues
in Georgia as well as the partisan political actors behind them, in order to combat the ongoing
assault on voting rights in the state.

Voter Suppression in Georgia

Voter Restrictions in Georgia

Georgia has enacted a number of laws that restrict who is able to vote in elections and that
prove especially burdensome for minorities. The state enforces a strict voter ID law that
requires residents to show photo identification when voting in person. Along with Indiana,
Georgia was one of the first states in the nation to introduce such a law, which it began
implementing in 2007.1 Georgia currently accepts six different forms of ID in order to vote: a
valid state or federal government-issued photo ID, a Georgia drivers license, a valid employee
photo ID from the U.S. government or any Georgia government entity, a valid U.S. passport, a
valid U.S. military photo ID, or a valid tribal photo ID.2

If a resident does not have one of the required forms of identification, they can apply for a free
state-issued voter identification cardif they can jump through the onerous hoops required.
Before receiving a voter identification card, applicants must provide extensive documentation
proving their identity, date of birth, residential address, and that they are registered to vote.3
Georgia voters who go to the polls and are unable to show proper ID must cast provisional
ballots. They then have three days to show an accepted form of ID at their county registrars
office. If they are unable to show such identification within three days, their votes will not be
counted.4

It should be noted that voter ID laws have been shown to disproportionately affect minority,
elderly, disabled, and low-income voters, who face greater obstacles obtaining the types of
identification required to vote. A study conducted by political scientists at the University of
California at San Diego analyzed voter turnout between 2008 and 2012 and found substantial
drops in turnout for minorities under strict voter ID laws.5 Between November 2008 and
September 2012, at least 1,586 Georgians didnt have their ballots counted because they were
unable to show approved identification.6 Obtaining a photo ID can be costly and the
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bureaucratic process can be especially difficult for low-income and elderly voters who may not
have birth certificates because they were born at home instead of in a hospital.7 In fact, more
than 21 million Americans do not have government-issued photo identification [and] a
disproportionate number of [them] are low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, and elderly.8

In 2009, Georgia passed a law that required voter registration applicants to prove their U.S.
citizenship when registering by showing a birth certificate or passport, another unnecessary
burden that disproportionately affects minority voters. The law has been plagued with issues,
including technical problems with enforcement. The U.S. Supreme Court partially blocked
Georgia from enforcing the law, ruling in 2013 that a similar proof of citizenship requirement in
Arizona was not legal under federal law. Although Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a
leading proponent of voter suppression policies in the state, has aggressively sought access,
Georgia has never been able to enforce the proof of citizenship law because it has no access to
the federal immigration database that would allow confirmation of voter registration
applicants U.S. citizenship.9 In fact, a recent federal appeals court decision may make it even
less likely that Georgia will succeed in its attempt to require proof of citizenship when residents
register to vote using the federal form.

In January 2016, Brian Newby, the newly appointed executive director of the Election
Assistance Commission (EAC), an independent commission responsible for federal voter
registration standards, made the unilateral decision that residents of Alabama, Kansas, and
Georgia could no longer register to vote using the federal form without showing documentation
of U.S. citizenship. The action was panned by voting rights advocates, as well as by one of the
EACs own commissioners, who said Newby did not have the authority to implement the
policy.10 Newby and the EAC were sued by the League of Women Voters and other voting rights
groups and on September 9, 2016 the U.S. District Court of Appeals enjoined the enforcement
of decisions of [EAC] Executive Director, Brian D. Newby, approving requests by Kansas,
Alabama, and Georgia to add a proof of citizenship requirement to the state-specific
instructions that accompany the National Mail Voter Registration Form. In reaching the
decision, the court made clear that enforcing Newbys unilateral decision would result in
irreparable harm.11

Prior to working for the EAC, Brian Newby worked as a county election commissioner in Kansas
under Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an anti-immigration activist notorious for promoting voter
suppression policies across the country. Kobach has managed and promoted a program called
Crosscheck, a master list of almost seven million potential double voters that, although
criticized for being highly inaccurate, is used in several states, including Georgia.12

Georgia also has strict laws regarding felon voting. In the state, any person convicted of a felony
cannot vote until they have completed their sentence and paid all associated fees and fines.13
Such restrictions disenfranchise minority voters at a higher rate than non-minority voters, with
nearly 7.7 percent of African American voters disenfranchised nationwide by felon voting
restrictions, compared to 1.8 percent of the non-African American population.14 Felons who are

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ineligible to vote under state law constitute 4.2 percent of Georgias voting-age populationa
higher percentage than any other state in the country.15
Election Administration Issues

Early voting, including Sunday voting, helps make voting easier, especially for minority voters.
For example, black voters in Georgia have cast approximately one-third of early ballots since
2008, and also cast 53 percent of votes on the Sunday before the November 2014 election.16
Currently, Georgias in-person early voting starts twenty-one days before an election and
advanced voting starts forty-five days before.17 Georgia allows each county to decide if it will
offer Sunday voting, instead of mandating it on a statewide level. In 2014, only eleven out of
Georgias 159 counties offered the service.18 Georgia is also one of eight states that have
sharply cut back on early voting despite the positive effects it has on voter turnout. In 2011,
Georgia Republicans cut in-person early voting from forty-five days to twenty-one days before
an election, and attempted to cut that even further, to only twelve days in 2015.19

Georgia officials have also been criticized for problematic redistricting plans that harm minority
voters. In 2015, for example, Georgia Republicans proposed a legislative district map for
Gwinnett and Henry Counties that Democrats argued would dilute the influence of black voters.
Despite this opposition, the redistricting plan bill was signed into law, with the newly drawn
districts in effect for the 2016 elections.20

Voter suppression policies are being pushed by a range of officials in Georgia, from local
election board members to statewide elected officeholders. Officials who advocate for
burdensome voting restrictions have openly voiced political motivations for depriving minority
voters of their ability to cast a vote and have made partisan and racially charged comments,
even when they are elected to impartially protect voting rights and administer elections for all
Georgians.

Voter Suppression from the Top Down

Secretary of State Brian Kemp

Leading the crusade to suppress voting rights in Georgia is Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who
has actively promoted voter suppression policies since becoming secretary of state in 2010. In
addition to advocating for these policies, Kemp also has framed the debate in overtly political
terms and conducted meritless investigations of voting rights groups.

Voter Identification and Proof of Citizenship Restrictions

Kemp is a vocal supporter of voter suppression policies. He has backed voter ID and proof-ofcitizenship requirements, and has opposed automatic voter registration. Kemp has claimed to

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support burdensome voting policies in the name of stopping voter fraud, although he has
repeatedly failed to prove the existence of such fraud. Kemp admitted that he believes that
registering minority voters is a threat to Republican control in Georgia. Leading up to the 2014
elections, Kemp said that Democrats were registering all these minority voters that are out
there and others that are sitting on the sidelines and if they can do that, they can win these
elections in November.21

Kemp supported making voting less accessible by cutting early voting times. He supported the
controversial bill, pushed by Georgia Republicans and signed into law by Governor Deal in 2011,
which shortened the in-person early voting period from forty-five days to twenty-one days.
Kemp said that the law was an example of having a state government that listens to whats
going on all over the state instead of just in Atlanta because it was designed to save money.22

Kemp also praised Georgias burdensome proof-of-citizenship law, which was passed before he
was elected secretary of state, calling it a common-sense enhancement that will prevent
voter fraud in the state.23 Since taking office, Kemp has requested that the Election Assistance
Commission (EAC) start requiring Georgia residents to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when
registering to vote with the Federal Form.24 Kemps request was granted in a unilateral decision
by EACs executive director, Brian Newby, in an unprecedented move that may be overturned
as a violation of EAC policy. Until then, however, Kemp may be one step closer to enforcing
unnecessary and burdensome proof-of-citizenship requirements for Georgia voters.

Kemp has opposed automatic voter registration, which would make voter registration
significantly easier for minority voters. When Georgia Congressman John Lewis and others
pushed a bill that would automatically register people to vote, while allowing them to opt out
of voter registration if they preferred, Kemp said that some people dont want to be registered
to vote, claiming that the choice not to vote is what makes America great.25

Targeting Nonpartisan Voter Registration Groups and Wasting Government Resources

Kemp didnt stop at promoting discriminatory voter suppression policies for openly political
reasons. He has repeatedly investigated minority voter registration and turnout efforts, despite
failing to uncover any instances of widespread fraud. The secretary of states office has
aggressively investigated progressive groups that focus on registering minority voters, while not
applying the same scrutiny to similar conservative efforts.26 Kemps targeting of voter
registration drives is an assault on minority voting; the non-partisan, minority-focused voter
registration group New Georgia Project has found that citizens of color register through voter
registration drives at twice the rate of whites.27

Only two months after voicing his concerns that minority voter registration efforts were
threatening Republican control in Georgia, Kemp announced a criminal investigation into the
New Georgia Project. Kemps office found no evidence of widespread fraud in its investigation,
concluding that only about 0.001% of the groups tens of thousands of registration forms were
suspicious. State law requires New Georgia Project canvassers to turn in voter registration
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applications regardless of how people fill them out.28 Despite finding no evidence of
widespread voter fraud, Kemps office failed to process voter registrations in a timely manner,
causing voters to miss voting in the primary elections. Editorials in the Waycross Journal-Herald
and Savannah Morning News said that Kemp embarrassed himself with his allegations of
voter fraud and ate some serious crow after admitting that there was no evidence of
widespread fraud by the New Georgia Project.29

Kemp also spent two and a half years investigating the non-partisan Asian American Legal
Advocacy Center (AALAC) and found no evidence any violations. AALAC, an organization that
registered newly naturalized citizens to vote, discovered that Kemps office had launched an
investigation into their voter registrations after one of their attorneys inquired about voters
AALAC had attempted to register not being added to the voter rolls. Kemps office responded
by informing AALAC of its investigation, and asked the organization to turn over records
because of potential legal concerns surrounding AALACs photocopying and public disclosure
of voter registration applications. No violations were found even after a full two and a half
years of investigation. The executive director of Asians Americans Advancing Justice (formerly
AALAC) stated that the group was retaliated against by Kemps office.30

The State of Georgia settled a lawsuit in 2012 alleging that it had violated the National Voter
Registration Act by not offering voter registration to public assistance recipients. The lawsuit,
brought by the Georgia NAACP and others, alleged that the state refused to follow procedures
for distributing voter registration forms to public assistance recipients. Kemp signed off on the
settlement agreement, which included $175,000 in attorney fees and a confirmation that the
state would provide the opportunity to register to vote to public assistance recipients as
required by the National Voter Registration Act. Despite agreeing to the settlement, Kemp
condemned the lawsuit and being forced to comply with what he called outdated and
unneeded federal voter registration mandates.31

Challenging the Historic Election of Majority-Black School Board on Tenuous Grounds

Kemps investigations of voter registration efforts, in addition to being dubious uses of taxpayer
funding, were politically motivated witch-hunts that found no evidence of wrongdoing. In
another case, after Brooks County elected an historic majority-black school board in 2010
following get-out-the-vote efforts targeting minority voters, Kemp sent investigators door-todoor in black neighborhoods in Quitman, a small town in Brooks County, ultimately alleging
technical breaches in absentee ballot procedure. A dozen voting organizers were arrested,
including three who had won seats on the school board. With their charges pending, Governor
Nathan Deal issued an executive order temporarily removing the newly-elected school board
members from the board so it was no longer majority-black. Twelve Quitman residents were
charged with crimes, some with multiple felonies, including one resident who faced two felony
charges for helping her partially blind and disabled father fill out his absentee ballot.32 The
NAACP referred to Kemps investigation as a witch-hunt, and applauded the fact that, four
years after the election, all charges against the eleven Quitman residents (one had since passed

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away) were dropped, despite the damage that had already been done to the individuals lives
by Kemps office.33

The Purge: Election Years

The Georgia Secretary of State regularly purges voters from the voting rolls due to inactivity, a
practice that is being challenged in court by voting rights groups. If a person has not had
contact with election officials for three years, has filed a change of address, or has election mail
returned to sender, the Secretary of States office sends a notice to them. If the notice finds no
response, the voters status is changed to inactive. If the voter is not heard from for two
general election cycles after that, their voter registration is canceled. In February 2014, Kemps
office purged around 312,000 voter registrations through this process.34 Kemps voter purge
practice is being challenged in court by Common Cause and the Georgia NAACP, who argue that
canceling voter registrations due to inactivity is a violation of federal law, citing the National
Voter Registration Act, which prohibits purging voter registrations because individuals did not
vote.35 According to the lawsuit, which the groups filed against Brian Kemp, 372,242 voters had
their voter registration status canceled due to failure to vote between October 2012 and
November 2014.36

Kemps office has illegally purged voters from the voting rolls. His election director, Linda Ford,
was forced to resign in 2015 after a technical error resulted in nearly 8,000 voters being
purged from the voter rolls by having their registration status changed from inactive to
canceled. This is the way Georgia routinely purges its voter rolls, but because the change
occurred less than ninety days before a federal election, the voter purge was a direct violation
of the National Voter Registration Act. Kemp called the error an honest mistake by Ford and
said that there was no conspiracy, but if she remained, she would become a scapegoat.
Kemp continued, I have to make sure the people know that my biggest duty in the office is to
maintain the integrity of the system. At least one voter reported having problems with voting
due to the illegal voter purge. 37

The Georgia secretary of states office also participates in anti-immigrant crusader and Kansas
Secretary of State Kris Kobachs Crosscheck program, a master list of almost seven million
potential double-voters that has been criticized for being highly inaccurate.38 Crosscheck
consolidates voter information from participating states for cross-reference with the goal of
identifying voters who may be voting illegally in multiple states. Although the program has
flagged millions of mismatched, potential double-voters, it has been criticized for its inaccuracy.
Crosscheck often flags voters based on only first and last names, ignoring middle names,
suffixes, and birthdates. In cases where voter information includes the last four digits of their
Social Security numbers, those numbers are purposely ignored, increasing the number of
erroneously matched voters.39 Critics of the program have also noted that Crosscheck flags
minority voters at disproportionate rates.40 Kemp has said that his office does not use
Crosscheck to purge Georgia voter rolls, but does share voter information with other states
who may use the program to purge their rolls.

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Rejecting Minority Voter Registrations for Database Mismatches

Secretary of State Kemp was named as a defendant in lawsuit filed in September 2016 by the
Georgia NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda and Asian Americans Advancing
Justice-Atlanta. The groups argued that Georgias strict matching requirements for voter
registration forms blocked thousands of minorities from successfully registering to vote.

According to the lawsuit, minority applicants were far more likely than white applicants to be
rejected due to information on voter registration forms not exactly matching the same letters
and numbers in Georgias Department of Drivers Service and federal Social Security
Administration databases. The lawsuit stated that Georgia denied 34,874 registration
applications from 2013 to 2016 due to mismatched information. Of those, black applicants
were eight times more likely to fail the states verification process than white applicants, and
Latinos and Asian-Americans were six times more likely to fail.41

In late September, Georgia agreed to temporarily suspend a requirement that has prevented
tens of thousands of residents from registering to vote as it works toward a possible settlement
in the lawsuit brought by the NAACP and others. The state also agreed to stop the automatic
rejection of applications that dont exactly match information in state and federal databases as
part of the agreement.42

Massive Data Breach and (More) Wasting Government Resources

Kemps office attracted major negative publicity after a massive data breach that released the
personal information, including Social Security numbers, of every registered voter in Georgia.
Voter information, including Social Security numbers, birth dates, and drivers license numbers,
was inadvertently sent to a dozen political and media organizations, including the state
Republican and Democratic parties. Kemp blamed a single staffer for the breach, which his
office discovered a full month after the breach occurred, although records showed that
repeated, widespread disregard of policy in the secretary of states office contributed to the
data breach.43 After the breach, Kemp announced that all 6.2 million registered voters in
Georgia would be eligible for a free year of credit and identity theft monitoring paid for by the
secretary of states office. The offer, to fix an issue caused by negligence in Kemps office, was
estimated to cost taxpayers $1.2 million.44 U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson called for a federal
investigation and the League of Women Voters of Georgia asked for an independent inquiry
into the data breach. Governor Nathan Deal denied requests to open an inquiry, saying that he
was still confident in Kemps leadership despite the breach.45

Governor Nathan Deal

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, who has aided Brian Kemp with his voter suppression efforts,
has been a vocal opponent of expanding voting accessibility since taking office in 2011. In his
first year in office, Deal signed legislation that cut back in-person early voting from forty-five
days to twenty-one days before an election,46 which was supported by Kemp. Deal has also
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opposed Sunday voting. Of DeKalb Countys plan to allow for Sunday voting in 2014, he said
that it had a partisan purpose behind it of trying to increase the Democratic turnout, and
stating, I dont think anything that has to do with elections should be tilted one way or the
other for partisan purposes.47 Deals belief that enabling all eligible voters to vote is somehow
partisan demonstrates his own political bias towards voter suppression.

Deal has used offensive, racially charged language to convey his support of proof-of-citizenship
laws. During remarks at a 2009 campaign event, Deal, then a U.S. congressman and
gubernatorial candidate, used the phrase ghetto grandmothers to describe people who had
difficulty proving their U.S. citizenship status in order to vote. In defending proof-of-citizenship
requirements, Deal said, We got all the complaints of the ghetto grandmothers who didnt
have birth certificates and all that. Deal later apologized for his offensive remarks that
demonstrated his obliviousness to burdensome voting restrictions.48

Deal also supported Kemps investigation of the New Georgia Project, the non-partisan voter
registration group that focuses on minority voters. The governors 2014 re-election campaign
seized on Kemps announcement of the investigation to take a dig at Deals opponent,
Democrat Jason Carter. After the secretary of states announcement, Deals campaign
spokesman tweeted, We now know how Carter plans to get to those 200,000 new voters he
says he needs.49 The New Georgia Project investigation ultimately revealed no evidence of
widespread voter fraud.

Voter Suppression Advocates in the Georgia State Legislature

While statewide elected officials like Governor Deal and Secretary of State Kemp are influential,
visible figures promoting voter suppression policies in Georgia, state legislators also have a
significant impact on the issue. Over the past few years, the Republican-dominated Georgia
legislature has introduced a handful of bills that would disenfranchise minority voters.

Voter suppression bills have garnered support in the GOP-lead legislature and several Georgia
state legislators are especially notable for supporting bills aimed at making it more difficult for
minority voters to cast their ballots. Like the elected officials advocating for these policies
through their statewide offices, state legislators also have voiced political motivation for the
laws, sometimes through racially charged and offensive rhetoric.

State Senator Fran Millar

State Senator Fran Millar made national news for his partisan, racially charged opposition to
voter turnout efforts in Georgia. Millar said, in 2014, that he was upset by efforts to increase
voter turnout in an area with a large African-American population, complaining, we are to
have Sunday voting at South DeKalb Mall just prior to the election, a location dominated by
African American shoppers and . . . near several large African American mega churches. He

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said [he] would prefer more educated voters. After being called out for his offensive
comments Millar complained that people were calling him racist and defended his comments
by asserting, This is politics. Its not about race. He called the voter turnout effort a partisan
stunt that he hoped [could] be stopped, explaining, If you dont believe this is an efort [sic]
to maximize Democratic votes pure and simple, then you are not a realist.50

Millar has a history of posting racially charged statements on social media. In a series of
comments in response to a post encouraging people to shop at minority-owned businesses,
Millar seemed to compare being a member of the minority Republican Party in
predominantly black DeKalb County, to being African-American, and complained that whites
are tired of being blamed for past situations they did not play a part in. Millar commented,
When I start shopping at businesses based on the race of the owner, then I give evidence of
racism. I understand $$ talk [sic] but this is not the way to bring people together. He continued
later in the thread, My local coffee shop is owned by Indians and grocery is a chain. My local
high school is majority minority students. Also my political party is a minority in DeKalb, and,
Our present attitude vs. inclusiveness doesnt seem to be working. I think it is safe to say that
many whites are tired of being blamed for past situations they did not play a part in.51

Millar also praised Gwinnett County Sherriff Butch Conway for suggesting that the Black Lives
Matter movement is made up of domestic terrorists with an agenda. Millar characterized
Black Lives Matter as a divisive slogan, and said people are tired of all problems being
reduced to race. He went on to suggest that racism will probably always be a problem.52

State Representative Barry Fleming

State Representative Barry Fleming sponsored a bill in 2014 to curtail early voting in municipal
elections from a minimum of sixteen days to only six days before the election.53 Fleming said
that HB 891, which would drastically reduce early voters access to the polls, does not change
anyones ability to vote, claiming that small cities would be happy to only allow residents to
vote on election day.54 However, the bill was fiercely opposed by a range of voting groups, civil
rights organizations, and faith-based advocacy groups and eventually died in Georgias General
Assembly after passing the Senate.55

Rep. Fleming also defended voter suppression policies outside of his role as a state legislator
when he was hired by the Hancock County Board of Elections after the NAACP filed a complaint
against it in federal court. The NAACP alleges that the board conducted improper and racially
based challenges and purges of black registered voters when the board challenged almost a
fifth of voter registrations in the city of Sparta, resulting in qualified black voters being purged
from the voter rolls.56 The lawsuit, which has not yet been decided, argues the board aimed to
give an advantage to white candidates in Spartas municipal elections. Fleming, however,
claimed that the lawsuit is overblown and that the allegations that people were denied the
right to vote are the opposite of the truth. . . . This is probably more about politics and
power.57

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State Representative Mark Hamilton

State Representative Mark Hamilton, before resigning from the Georgia legislature in 2015 to
take a private sector job in Tennessee, sponsored several efforts to suppress voting in the
Georgia House of Representatives during his tenure.

Hamilton introduced numerous bills in the Georgia House that would cut early voting, including
the one signed into law in 2011 that cut in-person early voting from forty-five to twenty-one
days. Even after Georgia Republicans enacted Hamiltons bill that cut early voting, Hamilton
continued introducing bills that would cut back early voting even more. Hamilton introduced
HB 194 in 2015, a bill that would cut the number of early voting days from twenty-one to
twelve and restrict options for weekend voting. Although the bills sponsors argued that the bill
would save money, voting rights advocates opposed the bill as another way for the state to
limit accessibility to voting.58 The previous year, along with Rep. Barry Fleming and others,
Hamilton had introduced HB 891, which cut early voting in municipal elections.59 Neither of the
bills became law.

Hamilton also sponsored controversial legislation, supported by Secretary of State Kemp, that
would move local elections in Augusta and the states other consolidated cities and counties,
from November, when voter turnout is high, to July, when fewer minority voters make it to the
polls.60 The Augusta branch of the NAACP called the legislation a maneuver to suppress the
participation of the citys African American voters. The effort was blocked by the federal
government under the Voting Rights Act, citing the harm the change would have on minority
voters.61

Georgias Local Election Board Members

On The Front Lines of Voter Suppression
(and Racially Charged Commentary)

Local election boards, which operate independently from state elections offices, have a
significant amount of power and discretion in shaping election processes. The local boards are
responsible for conducting primary and general elections and, in 100 of Georgias 159 counties,
they are combined with county boards of registrations, which are responsible for voter
registration and absentee ballot procedures. There is no uniform standard for the makeup of
local election boards, aside from one requirement for at least three members on each board.
Instead, local legislation lays out the number of members to be appointed to the local board,
the manner in which they are appointed, and the lengths of their terms.62 In many counties,
both the Republican and Democratic parties appoint one or two board members each to the
board of elections.

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Local election boards have a great amount of power in registering voters and conducting
elections, and some members of the boards are actively opposed to accessible elections for
minority voters. County election boards have been criticized for closing polling places and
consolidating precincts in ways that disenfranchise minority voters. Board members also have
opposed Sunday voting in their counties, and rejected ballots of eligible voters. Voter
suppression happens at the county level, as well at the state level, and county election board
members often have political motivations that influence their decisions.

The Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections

The Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections has refused to provide Spanishlanguage ballots for the upcoming 2016 elections, with four of the five board members voting
to reject a request for bilingual ballots. The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials said
the group would pursue the matter in court, citing a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Both of
the Republican-appointed members of the board, Alice OLenick and Ben Satterfield, voted to
prevent Spanish-language ballots in the election. OLenick, the chair of the Gwinnett County
election board, said the board did not have enough information to determine whether it should
provide bilingual ballots but said, If a judge says do this, well do it.63

OLenick, has made numerous offensive, racially charged remarks on social media. OLenick
commented on Facebook that we have overspent in the inner city, and that after
emancipation all black Americans were offered free transport, a home, livestock if they wanted
to return to Africa . . . so there was no force to stay.64 OLenick also joined a We Support
Paula Deen Facebook page that was created two days after it was reported that Deen had
made racist comments, including using the N word and saying she wanted to hire black
waiters to dress as slaves for a theme party.65 On Facebook, OLenick also agreed with fellow
Gwinnett County election board member, Ben Satterfield, when he wrote that he refused to
differentiate between ISIS/ISIL and all other Muslims. OLenick wrote, I agree with Ben . . . And
yes I have read their book and in page 2 it says to murder.66

Satterfield is the other Republican-appointed board member who voted with OLenick to reject
the request for Spanish-language ballots in Gwinnett County. He also has posted offensive,
racially charged comments extensively on social media. In an extremely troubling comment for
a local election official, Satterfield wrote on Facebook, I do think we have cheapened the vote
for some folks by making it to [sic] easy, no sacrifice involved now!!!!67 Satterfield is a member
of a Facebook group called the Georgia Voter Protection Committee, whose members regularly
post far-right voter fraud conspiracies.68 He has bashed immigrants who cross our borders
illegally, get drivers license [sic], vote in our elections; collect social security and welfare,
warning that Jesus is coming back sooner than we think.69 Satterfield also posted that
Trayvon Martin was a felon and Michael Brown was a thug who was made an angel by our
Barak [sic] Obama, Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson.70 Satterfield has shared fringe, right-wing
views extensively on social media, writing that President Obama hates everything that has
made the USA one of the great countries of the world, and implying that Obama supported
terrorism.71
SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 12


The Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections

Both Republican members of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections, Herb Spangler and
Rinda Wilson, have opposed Sunday voting and supported reducing the number of voting
locations in Bibb County, citing explicitly partisan reasons for their positions. At a contentious
hearing, Wilson and Spangler voted against allowing Sunday voting in the November 2014
elections.72 Wilson called the proposed Sunday voting a partisan thing that is backed by
Democrats as a way just to wring out every last vote.73

Both Spangler and Wilson supported reducing the number of polling precincts in Macon-Bibb
County from forty to twenty-six. The plan was criticized as a way to suppress voting in black and
low-income communities in the county. Spangler, however, who is also treasurer of the Bibb
County GOP, said that he didnt really see a problem with reducing the number voting
locations.74 The board eventually compromised and reduced the number of precincts from forty
to thirty-three, instead of the originally proposed twenty-six. Wilson noted that she was fine
with the whole package, meaning cutting the number of precincts further, but sometimes you
have to take into account perceptions, even if you think its not correct.75

Wilson, who is the chair of the Macon-Bibb County election board, has been outspoken about
her support of voter suppression policies, believing that theres a point in which convenience
[of voting] is becoming ridiculous.76 Wilson has employed fiercely partisan rhetoric in her
discussions of voting, suggesting that poor people vote for Democrats because they enjoy tax
subsidies. Wilson wrote, The infamous 47 percent of Americans who pay no federal taxes have
now been joined by groups who are newly dependent upon taxpayer subsidies and will
presumably vote for the hand that feeds them.77 Wilson has written a series of letters to the
editor that include a variety of anti-Obama conspiracy theories, such as that President Obama
has strategies to cleverly buy off both the more affluent voters and those voters who are
struggling financially.78 Wilson also alleged that a friend was almost instantly audited by the
IRS after calling the White House to complain about Obamacare.79 The chairman of the Bibb
County Democrats even called for Wilsons resignation from the board of elections after she
wrote in a letter to the editor that, Every vote for a Democrat literally furthers the radical
social agenda vigorously approved of and promoted by the leaders of this political party.80

In addition to voicing her highly partisan rhetoric on voting, Wilson has made a range of racially
charged and anti-immigrant comments. She praised a letter to the editor in the Macon
Telegraph that criticized the black community for taking advantage of food stamps, welfare
payments, housing, free cellphones and other entitlements that are obviously not paid for
by the black community. The letter, written by Bob Hubbard, Sr., warned that the
establishment of a black community based on race will unquestionably result in the
resurgence of . . . white only cultures and might also lead to the rise of a Hispanic culture
with more than twice as many members as the black community.81 Wilson praised Hubbards
letter for hitting the nail on the head about issues that are generally left off the table when the
politically correct crowd discusses race in America. She also noted that her liberal brother
was shocked when told him that the illegitimacy rate among black Americans was in the
SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 13


mid-70s (percent).82 Wilson wrote that President Obama planned to give illegal immigrants
goodies in order to ensure that Obamas expanded Democratic voting block will be
secure.83 Wilson criticized undocumented immigrants who serve in the military for making it
easier for terrorist (sic) to lie their way into our military and blow up his fellow soldiers. She
also criticized undocumented immigrants who receive college scholarships for taking a college
scholarship away from a legal U.S. citizen.84

The Henry County Board of Elections

Henry County Board of Elections member Debbie Moon is another local official who openly
engages in highly partisan and at times racially charged rhetoric despite her role in
administering elections.85

Moon has shared memes on social media suggesting that Obama voters should not vote in the
next election, that the Democratic Party registers dead people to vote, and that illegal
immigrants vote for Democrats.86 Moon shared an article from a right-wing news website that
criticized the NAACP for asking marchers to bring a photo ID to a Moral March rally that,
among other things, protested stricter voter ID laws in North Carolina. Moon commented, Ok,
so let me see if I understand this correctly. To prevent Voter fraud & insure [sic] we have valid
elections is NOT AS IMPORTANT as who attends their little rallies? Wow...... Can we say
HYPOCRITES?!87

Moon also has written racially charged posts on social media. After the protests in Ferguson,
MO, Moon wrote that the focus should be on how to raise young men of color so they
arent criminals who disrespect, disobey, and assault our Law Enforcement Officers.88 Moon
shared a meme, seemingly in reference to the Baltimore riots and looting after the death of
Freddie Gray, that said, Shoe store located in Baltimore Work boots untouched.89 She also
wrote Wow think about this, sharing a meme that showed a Black Lives Matter protest that
suggested that the group organize instead to clean up your community and get rid of the
criminal element causing the problem.90

Moon shared a meme that said Youre being treated poorly by the police? Have you tried not
breaking the law to see if that helps? and wrote Bingo!91 She also shared a meme of a white
police officer that said If we really wanted you dead all wed have to do is stop patrolling your
neighborhoods and wait.92

The Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections

Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, has faced charges of voter suppression in
the past. A state investigation found evidence of over thirty violations of state law during the
2008 and 2012 elections in Fulton County. The county agreed to a settlement plus payment of
$180,000 in fines and investigative costs. In addition to other election violations, the settlement
noted that Fulton County rejected the ballots of eleven eligible voters and mishandled
hundreds of ballots.93
SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 14


Stan Matarazzo is one of the two Republican-appointed members serving on the Fulton County
Board of Registrations and Elections. He has a been a board member while Fulton County has
experienced numerous problems with election administration and was involved in the hiring
processes of two problematic election directors, including Sam Westmoreland. Deemed
responsible for a number of election problems in Fulton County, Westmoreland was found to
have falsified parts of his resume and later resigned after he was incarcerated following two
prescription drug DUI cases.94 Matarazzo said that Sharon Mitchell was the only employee
qualified to take over after Westmorelands resignation, but, after Mitchell was made interim
director, she was found not to have entered 14,000 voter registration applications into the
system.95

Matarazzo, who has made his career out of helping banks avoid taxes, threatened to suppress
the voting rights of public housing tenants while he served on the county election board.96 After
the Fulton County election board found that 122 people were still registered with the address
of a recently demolished public housing project, he threatened to prosecute all the voters who
hadnt filed change-of-address forms, even though lawyers noted that those residents still had
the right to vote provisionally.97 On social media, Matarazzo suggested that Democrats commit
voter fraud.98
The Muscogee County Elections and Registration Board

Uhland Roberts, the former vice-chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, now serves on the
Elections and Registrations Board in Muscogee County. He opposed adding Sunday voting in the
county in 2014 and wrote on social media that there was a partisan push for it.99 Roberts also
voted to reduce the number of precincts in the county from forty-eight to twenty-eight, a plan
that was approved despite opposition from residents and the NAACP. Roberts claimed that the
board focused on the voters when they approved the plan, saying that it was not done based
on partisan or racial or anything like that. Another board member who voted against the plan
argued that it would oppress minority voters.100

The Richmond County Board of Elections

In Richmond County, both Republican-appointed members of the county Board of Elections,
Sherry Barnes and David Chip Barbee, supported a plan to consolidate precincts that was
opposed by the NAACP, disabled voters, and senior citizens.101 The plan, which the board voted
to approve in 2013, consolidated several precincts and eliminated two polling locations at
senior citizen complexes. The consolidation plan was met with vocal opposition from disabled
and elderly residents. A statement issued by Augusta NAACPs then-president blasted the
proposal as not in the best interest of voting rights, convenience and respect to [senior
citizens] most constitutional fundamental rights, and that is the power and right to vote, also
noting that the changes would disproportionately affect as many as 9,000 minority voters.102

SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 15

Conclusion

Officials at all levels of Georgias government have engaged in what amounts to a long-term
assault on voting rights. Voter suppression policiesvoter ID, proof of citizenship, reducing
early voting, and other policies that make voting less accessibledisproportionately affect
minorities, senior citizens, the disabled, and low-income voters who should be encouraged to
turn out and exercise their constitutional rights to vote.

Despite what some Georgia officials have expressed, voting is a right, not a privilege. These
officials are failing all Georgians when they are motivated by partisanship and engage in racially
charged rhetoric while serving in roles intended to impartially administer elections and protect
voting rights. Voter suppression policies do not simply make it more difficult for Georgians to
vote; they also strip constitutional rights from largely minority voters, all for the purpose of
partisan, political gain.

SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 16

End Notes
1

History of Voter ID, National Conference of State Legislatures website, accessed August 7, 2016,
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id-history.aspx; and Shannon McCaffrey, Despite Voter ID Law,
Minority Turnout up in Georgia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 3, 2012, http://www.ajc.com/news/news/despitevoter-id-law-minority-turnout-up-in-georgi/nR2bx/.
2
Georgia Voter Identification Requirements, Georgia Secretary of State website, accessed August 7, 2016,
http://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/georgia_voter_identification_requirements2.
3
Georgia Voter Identification Requirements, Georgia Secretary of State website, accessed August 7, 2016,
http://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/georgia_voter_identification_requirements2.
4
Wendy Underhill, Voter Identification Requirements| Voter ID Laws, Variations in Voter ID Laws, National Conference of
State Legislatures website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx.
5
Sari Horwitz, Getting a Photo ID So You Can Vote Is Easy. Unless Youre Poor, Black, Latino or Elderly. Washington Post, May
23, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/getting-a-photo-id-so-you-can-vote-is-easy-unless-yourepoor-black-latino-or-elderly/2016/05/23/8d5474ec-20f0-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html. For full study see, Zoltan Hajnal,
Nazita Lajevardi, and Lindsay Nielson, Voter Identification Laws and the Suppression of Minority Votes, accessed August 7,
2016, http://pages.ucsd.edu/~zhajnal/page5/documents/voterIDhajnaletal.pdf.
6
Despite Voter ID Law, Minority Turnout Up in Georgia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 3, 2012,
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/despite-voter-id-law-minority-turnout-up-in-georgi/nR2bx/.
7
Horwitz, Getting a Photo ID.
8
Oppose Voter ID Legislation Fact Sheet, American Civil Liberties Union website, accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.aclu.org/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet.
9
Jeremy Redmon, Georgia Voter Registration Law Partly Blocked, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 20, 2013,
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/georgia-voter-id-law-blocked/nYP9p/.
10
Note: Allied Progress is one of the groups that criticized Brian Newbys decision on requiring proof of citizenship when
registering to vote with the federal form.
11
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, League of Women Voters of the United States, et al., v.
Brian D. Newby, in his capacity as the Executive Director of the United States Election Assistance Commission, No. 1:16-cv00236, September 9, 2016.
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/14C80589DDE01F4F8525802A00009F33/$file/16-5196CHMJ.pdf
12
Jamelle Bouie, The Most Brazen Attempt at Voter Suppression Yet, Slate, October 29, 2014,
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/10/al_jazeera_america_s_reveals_massive_gop_voter_suppre
ssion_effort_millions.html; and Martha Dalton, Critics Question Georgias Participation in Crosscheck Voter System, 90.1 FM
WABE, November 3, 2014, http://news.wabe.org/post/critics-question-georgias-participation-crosscheck-voter-system.
13
Jake Armstrong, ACLU Questions Ban on Voting by Felons, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, May 3, 2008,
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2008/05/30/met_460457.shtml.
14
Christopher Uggen, Sarah Shannon, and Jeff Manza, State-Level Estimates of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States,
2010, July 2012, The Sentencing Project website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://sentencingproject.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/01/State-Level-Estimates-of-Felon-Disenfranchisement-in-the-United-States-2010.pdf.
15
Philip Bump, Virginia governor will allow ex-felons to vote. Heres what that would mean in each state. Washington Post,
April 22, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/05/19/hillary-clinton-wants-to-allow-felons-to-votethat-could-mean-a-lot-in-a-state-like-florida/.
16
Jennifer L. Clark and Alexandria Hiatt, Early Voting Under Attack in Georgia, February 23, 2015, Brennan Center for Justice
website, accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/early-voting-under-attack-georgia; and Nate Cohn,
The Big Role of Black Churches in Two Senate Races, New York Times, October 29, 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/upshot/data-from-sunday-points-to-black-churches-role-in-mobilizing-voters.html.
17
Advanced and Early Voting, League of Women Voters of Georgia website, accessed August 7, 2016,
http://lwvga.org/absenteevoting.html.
18
Absentee and Early Voting, National Conference of State Legislatures Blog, May 26, 2016,
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx; Kristina Torres, More Than 12,600
People Voted Sunday in Georgia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 27, 2014, http://www.ajc.com/news/news/stateregional-govt-politics/more-than-12600-people-voted-sunday-in-georgia/nhsTF/; and Georgia Facts and Symbols, State of
Georgias website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://georgia.gov/georgia-facts-and-symbols.
19
Wendy R. Weiser, Voter Suppression: How Bad? (Pretty Bad), American Prospect, October 1, 2014,
http://prospect.org/article/22-states-wave-new-voting-restrictions-threatens-shift-outcomes-tight-races; and Zachary Roth, In
Voting Rights Win, Bill to Cut Georgia Early Voting Is Dead, MSNBC, April 6, 2015, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/votingrights-win-bill-cut-georgia-early-voting-dead.

SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 17

20

Sandra Parrish, Democrats Call on Governor to Veto Redistricting Bill, WSB News, May 1, 2015,
http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/democrats-call-governor-veto-redistricting-bill/nk64G/.
21
Jesse Wegman, The Partisan Court Blocks Extended Voting in Ohio, Taking Note (blog), New York Times, September 29,
2014; and Better Georgia YouTube channel, Full Speech Ga. GOP Sec. of State Says Democrats Will Win Through Minority
Voter Registration, YouTube video, 6:46, posted September 11, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USDQv5PjjQc.
22
Kemp Discusses New Election Legislation with Local Officials, Lincoln(GA) Journal, April 28, 2011,
http://m.lincolnjournalonline.com/news/2011-0428/Front_Page/Kemp_discusses_new_election_legislation_with_local.html#.V7c07ulPhLI.
23
Bill Rankin, Citizenship Process Approved, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 5, 2011.
24
United States EAC website, Newby Letter to Kemp.
25
Daniel Mallory, Voting Bill; Bill Would Register More Voters, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 31, 2013.
26
Spencer Woodman, Register Minority Voters in Georgia, Go to Jail, New Republic, May 5, 2015,
https://newrepublic.com/article/121715/georgia-secretary-state-hammers-minority-voter-registration-efforts; and Creative
Loafing Editorial Board, Secretary of State Should Stop Using the Bogeyman of Voter Registration Fraud, Creative Loafing:
Atlanta 43, no. 23 (Oct. 2-8, 2014): 7.
27
Who We Are, The New Georgia Project website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://newgeorgiaproject.org/about/.
28
Woodman, Register Minority Voters, Go to Jail.
29
Brian Kemp Eats Crow, Waycross (GA) Journal-Herald, Editorial, 10/02/14; and Voter Fraud and Premature Evaluation,
Editorial, Savannah (GA) Morning News, September 18, 2014, http://savannahnow.com/editorial-opinion/2014-09-18/editorialvoter-fraud-and-premature-evaluation.
30
Woodman, Register Minority Voters, Go to Jail.
31
Bill Rankin, Voter Registration Act; Georgia Signs off on Suit Settlement, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 20, 2012.
32
Woodman, Register Minority Voters, Go to Jail.
33
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP Statement on the Quitman 10, news release, January,
7, 2015, http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-statement-on-the-quitman-10.
34
Greg Bluestein and Kristina Torres, Voting Violation; Election Director Ousted, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 4, 2015.
35
Common Cause, Georgia Secretary of State Kemp Notified: Stop Illegally Purging Voter Lists, news release, November 24,
2015, http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/georgia-voter-list.html.
36
Kristina Torres, Suit Alleges That Georgia Is Still Illegally Bumping Voters off Rolls, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 11,
2016, http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgia-secretary-of-state-brian-kemp-sued-overvo/nqNk6/.
37
Bluestein and Torres, Voting Violation, and http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgia-electionsofficial-resigns-over-misidentif/nkmSY/
38
Bouie, The Most Brazen Attempt.
39
Greg Palast, Jim Crow Returns, Millions of Minority Voters Threatened by Electoral Purge, Al Jazeera America, October 29,
2014, http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/double-voters/.
40
Dalton, Critics Question Georgias Participation.
41
Kristina Torres, Federal lawsuit alleges Georgia blocked thousands of minority voters, Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
September 14, 2016, http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/federal-lawsuit-alleges-georgia-blockedthousands-/nsYBc/.
42
Kristina Torres, Georgia agrees to add thousands to voter rolls ahead of Nov. election, Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
September 26, 2016, http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgia-agrees-to-add-thousands-tovoter-rolls-ahe/nsfrT/.
43
Chris Joyner and Kristina Torres, Culture of Expediency Behind Georgia Data Breach, Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
December 27, 2015; and James Salzer, Bad Guys Dont Have Data, Kemp Says, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 20,
2016.
44
Kristina Torres, Privacy Risk; Georgia to Pay for Voters Credit Services, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 4, 2015.
45
Joyner and Torres, Culture of Expediency, and Torres, Privacy Risk.
46
2011-2012 Regular Session HB 92, Elections; In-Person Absentee Balloting; Provide Limitations, Georgia General Assembly
website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/display/32221.
47
Greg Bluestein, Daniel Malloy, and Jim Galloway, Fulton, Lowndes Counties Follow DeKalbs Lead and Schedule Sunday
Voting, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 11, 2014, http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/09/11/fulton-lowndes-countiesfollow-dekalbs-lead-and-schedule-sunday-voting/.
48
Aaron Gould Sheinin, An Apology Over Ghetto Comment, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 7, 2009; and Ajcjgalloway
YouTube channel, Ghetto Grandmothers, YouTube video, 1:12, posted October 5, 2009,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4zfxnSKI3Y.

SOMETHINGS ROTTEN | ALLIED PROGRESS | 18

49

Daniel Malloy, Democratic Voter Registration Group Hit with Fraud Allegations, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 10,
2014, http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2014/09/09/democratic-voter-registration-group-hit-with-fraud-allegations/.
50
Hunter Schwarz, Georgia Senator Upset Over Efforts to Increase Voter Turnout in Black, Democratic Area, Washington Post,
September 10, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/09/10/georgia-state-senator-upset-overefforts-to-increase-black-voter-turnout-says-he-wants-more-educated-voters/; and Jesse Wegman, The Partisan Court Blocks
Extended Voting in Ohio, Taking Note (blog), New York Times, September 24, 2014,
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/the-partisan-court-blocks-extended-voting-in-ohio/.
51
Quick Facts, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States Census website, accessed August 7, 2016,
http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/13089; and Darshun Nicole Kendrick Facebook page, status of July 12,
2016 (8:09 pm) and Fran Millar comments of July 13, 2016 (7:14 am, 1:50 pm, and 2:24 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/836980614/videos/10157171250360615/.
52
Fran Millar Facebook page, status of September 16, 2015 (9:48 am) and comments (10:13 am and 10:17 am), accessed
August 7, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/millar.ga/posts/884065228307511; and Gwinnett Sheriff Issues Scathing
Statement: All Lives Matter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 15, 2015,
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/gwinnett-sheriff-issues-scathing-statement-all-liv/nnfjz/.
53
2013-2014 Regular Session HB 891, Elections; Period for Advance Voting Prior to Municipal Primary or Election; Change,
Georgia General Assembly website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/enUS/display/20132014/HB/891; and Zachary Roth, Georgia Is Site of Latest GOP Attack on Early Voting, MSNBC, February 5,
2014, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/georgia-gop-looks-cut-early-voting.
54
Walter C. Jones, Women Voters Group Slams Bid to Shorten Early Voting; Smaller Cities Seek Financial Relief, Saying 21-Day
Period Is Too Costly, Florida Times-Union, February 5, 2014; and Leave Early Voting Alone, Editorial, Waycross JournalHerald, March 4, 2015.
55
Chris Kromm, Move to Slash Early Voting Defeated in Georgia, Facing South, March 21, 2014,
https://www.facingsouth.org/2014/03/move-to-slash-early-voting-defeated-in-georgia.html.
56
Amy Leigh Womack, Legal Arguments Contest Sparta Election, State Investigation Ongoing, Macon Telegraph, November
21, 2015, http://www.macon.com/news/local/article45831320.html.
57
Michael Wines, Critics See Efforts by Counties and Towns to Purge Minority Voters From Rolls, New York Times, July 31,
2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/us/critics-see-efforts-to-purge-minorities-from-voter-rolls-in-new-electionsrules.html.
58
2015-2016 Regular Session - HB 194, Elections; Advance Voting Times and Dates; Revise, Georgia General Assembly
website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20152016/HB/194; Clark and Hiatt,
Early Voting Under Attack; and A New Bill Could Reduce Early Voting Days, WALB News, February 9, 2015,
http://www.walb.com/story/28066510/a-new-bill-could-reduce-early-voting-days.
59
2013-2014 Regular Session HB 891, Georgia General Assembly website.
60
Bill Moves Augusta Election to July, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, March 28, 2012, http://chronicle.augusta.com/latestnews/2012-03-28/bill-moves-augusta-election-july.
61
Zachary Roth, Georgia GOP Dusts Off Jim Crow Tactic: Changing Election Date, MSNBC, November 22, 2013,
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gop-revives-jim-crow-tactic.
62
Military Heroes Initiative, Assessing Election Administration Processes for Injured Service Members, March 25, 2012,
http://www2.itif.org/2012-mhi-election-admin-injured-service-members.pdf.
63
David Wickert, Gwinnett Rejects Call for Spanish Ballots, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 20, 2016,
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/gwinnett-rejects-call-for-spanish-ballots/np7zC/.
64
Ben Satterfield Facebook page, Alice OLenick comments of August 25 (4:07 pm) and August 26, 2015 (8:40 am), accessed
August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10153227791868759?comment_id=10153228864628759&comment_trackin
g=%7b"tn"%3A"R1"%7d.
65
Alice OLenick Facebook page, Likes, accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/alice.olenick/likes; We Support
Paula Deen Facebook page, accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/WeSupportPaulaDeen/info/?tab=page_info;
and Rachel Tepper, Paula Deen Racist Comments, Use Of N-Word Allegedly Caught On Video, Huffington Post, June 19, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/paula-deen-racist-comments-n-word-caught-on-video_n_3467287.html.
66
Ben Satterfield Facebook page, status of November 13, 2015 (7:50 pm) and Alice OLenick comment of November 14, 2015
(8:53 am), accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10153378233703759.
67
Ibid., status of October 19, 2014 (9:06 pm), comment of October 20, 2014 (10:27 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10152529923153759https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/1015
2529923153759.
68
Ibid., Groups, accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/groups?collection_token=578998758%3A2361831622%3A66&next_cursor=MDpub

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3Rfc3RydWN0dXJlZDo3NDY4NzgzODg2Nzk2NTg=; and Georgia Voter Protection Committee Facebook page, accessed August 7,
2016, https://www.facebook.com/groups/338020086221133/.
69
Ben Satterfield Facebook page, status of May 9, 2015 (8:44 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10152980800918759.
70
Ibid., status of November 27, 2015 (8:52 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10153399820948759.
71
Ibid., status of December 7, 2015 (5:32 am), https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10153419774533759; and
status of April 14, 2016 (6:40 am), https://www.facebook.com/ben.satterfield/posts/10153715718648759.
72
Joe Kovac, Jr., Thumbs Down for Sunday Voting at Testy Board Meeting, Macon (GA) Telegraph, September 25, 2014,
http://www.macon.com/news/local/article30145122.html.
73
13 WMAZ, 09/25/14
74
Jeremy Timmerman, Board of Elections Settles on Thirty-three Precincts Macon (GA) Telegraph, June 10, 2015,
http://www.macon.com/news/politics-government/election/article30238326.html; NBC 41, January 23, 2015
http://www.41nbc.com/2015/01/23/local-democrats-say-no-to-board-of-elections-proposed-voter-precinct-closings/ ; and
Bibb County GOP Facebook page, posted photo of Herb Spangler, Treasurer, of March 14, 2015 (10:46 am), accessed August 7,
2016,
https://www.facebook.com/BibbGOP/photos/a.816306021777090.1073741831.727011187373241/816306051777087/?type=
1&theater.
75
Timmerman, Board of Elections Settles.
76
Kovac, Jr., Thumbs Down.
77
Rinda Wilson, letter to the editor, Macon (GA) Telegraph, November 1, 2014, http://www.macon.com/opinion/letters-to-theeditor/article30151758.html.
78
Ibid.
79
Rinda Wilson, letter to the editor, Macon (GA) Telegraph, January 13, 2015, http://www.macon.com/opinion/letters-to-theeditor/article30165486.html.
80
John Swint, Can Wilson Be Trusted as an Impartial Arbiter and Judge?, Op-ed, Macon (GA) Telegraph, November 18, 2015,
http://www.macon.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article45430773.html.
81
Bob Hubbard, Sr., letter to the editor, Macon (GA) Telegraph, March 31, 2014.
82
Rinda Wilson, letter to the editor, Macon (GA) Telegraph, April 8, 2014.
83
Ibid., December 6, 2014.
84
Ibid., July 15, 2011.
85
Aimee Jones, Local Man Elected to Be Delegate at GOP National Convention, Henry Herald, May 26, 2016,
http://www.henryherald.com/news/local-man-elected-to-be-delegate-at-gop-national-convention/article_925dda96-2efb5cfc-8b2b-14a5ce6fe525.html.
86
Debbie Wiest Moon Facebook page, shared photo, February 25, 2016 (8:38 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10208114388518130; Ibid., January 20, 2016 (11:01pm), accessed
September 10, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10207859175737970; and Ibid., January 7, 2016 (7:42
pm), https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10207771431024407,
87
Ibid., status of February 10, 2014 (10:55 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10202891511549470.
88
Ibid., status of December 2, 2014 (10:07 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10204959159919387.
89
Ibid., shared photo of January 26, 2016 (9:40 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10207900234084403.
90
Ibid., shared photo of July 12, 2016 (5:33 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10209328131980958.
91
Ibid, shared photo of July 20, 2016, (10:13 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10209396947861312.
92
Ibid., shared photo of July 10, 2016 (11:36 am), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/debbie.w.moon/posts/10209310862549233.
93
David WIckert, State OKs Fulton Election Settlement, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 14, 2015.
94
Johnny Edwards, Clash with GOP May Boost Elections Candidate, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 12, 2013,
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/clash-with-gop-may-boost-elections-candidate/nXnpt/.
95
Johnny Edwards, Memo Suggests Disarray in Office, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 2, 2013.
96
Bartlett Naylor, A Real Accountant, American Banker, December 15, 1986; and Vineeta Anand, Time Out, Syracuse
University Magazine 6, no. 2 (December 1992): 18-23.

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97

Voter Irregularities in Fulton County, CBS Atlanta, June 14, 2013, http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/06/14/voterirregularities-in-fulton-county/.
98
Stan Matarazzo Facebook Post, 10/05/12, https://www.facebook.com/stan.matarazzo/posts/10151303936661719, accessed
September 10, 2016.
99
Columbus(GA) Ledger-Enquirer, 10/02/14, http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article29350384.html and Uhland
Drane Roberts Facebook page, status of September 30, 2014 (5:39 pm), accessed August 7, 2016,
https://www.facebook.com/uhland.roberts/posts/10152516642834807.
100
Elections Board votes 3-1 to reduce precincts; Move will lower costs, free up more voting machines, Columbus(GA) LedgerEnquirer, March 5, 2010.
101
Request on Voting Precincts Rejected, Augusta Chronicle, December 10, 2013.
102
Susan McCord, Elections Board Moves Ahead with Polling Place Closures, Augusta Chronicle, November 19, 2013,
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-11-18/elections-board-moves-ahead-polling-place-closures.

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