As of the first day of early voting for the closely contested runoff election, Georgians haven’t received an updated voter registration list.
The Republican Party of Georgia issued a press release posing seven questions about the list pertaining to the upcoming runoff election – stating the “Secretary of State has failed to answer basic questions” about the status of the current voter registration rolls:
1. How many total new voters have registered to vote between November 4th and December 7th?
2. Can you ensure that all 159 counties have submitted complete lists of new registrants eligible to vote in the runoff and that number is not subject to change?
3. If not, can you confirm by a certain date when each of the 159 counties will have submitted all of their new registrants eligible to vote in the runoff?
4. What safeguards have you put in place to ensure that only eligible new registrants are casting ballots for the runoffs now that early voting has begun?
5. What is your process to ensure that both Republicans and Democrats are receiving the same information on the same timeline on new registrants from your office?
6. How many new registrants have already requested or returned their absentee ballot?
7. Have you notified voters who have been purged from the permanent absentee list that they will no longer be receiving an absentee ballot?
According to the secretary of state’s office, counties are responsible for updating voter registration. The voter registration list hasn’t been updated with new voters who registered for the runoff election by the time of press. Without the list, there exists no avenue for reviewing the registered voters.
Incumbent Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue released a joint statement on Monday asking Raffensperger for the updated voter registration list.
Raffensperger has written multiple opinion pieces in defense of his work as secretary of state. In each piece, he reiterated that Georgia’s elections are safer and more secure than ever before.
“By all accounts, Georgia had a wildly successful and smooth election,” wrote Raffensperger in USA Today. “We finally defeated voting lines and put behind us Fulton County’s now notorious reputation for disastrous elections. This should be something for Georgians to celebrate, whether their favored presidential candidate won or lost.”
Fulton County was criticized in the post-election fallout for issues necessitating rescans for thousands of ballots, a server crash, a longtime photographer for Kamala Harris who served as their Dominion Voting Systems representative, and been the subject of affidavits alleging voting irregularities. Most recently, the county came under scrutiny after Trump’s legal team showed a video depicting absentee ballots being retrieved from suitcases stowed under tables, alleging voter fraud.
Raffensperger also stated in the opinion pieces that his office had strengthened absentee ballot signature matching, outlawed ballot harvesting, and implemented a new voting system with printed paper ballots.
However, on Monday afternoon, Raffensperger announced that his office would be partnering with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct a signature match audit in Cobb County after discovering evidence of inadequate signature matching.
“We will also be working with an accredited university on a third-party signature match statewide audit study. Together, we will restore faith,” Raffensperger added.
Monday also marked the day that the Electoral College votes were to be submitted.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter or email tips to [email protected].
