Democratic lawmakers on Monday slammed Secretary of State Brian Kemp for playing “political games” regarding allegations of voter registration fraud.
Aides to Kemp, a Republican, told members of the Legislative Black Caucus that their investigation has now confirmed 30 cases of forged voter registration applications out of 72 flagged by counties for questions. An additional 15 of the 72 have been cleared for processing, and the remainder are being examined.
But those 72 applications represent a fraction of the tens of thousands of applications submitted to counties by the New Georgia Project, an organization created by House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta.
Caucus Chairwoman Dee Dawkins-Haigler, D-Lithonia, said Kemp has “overplayed” the situation.
“We know it’s overblown,” Dawkins-Haigler said. “(Out of) 85,000 people registered, he confirmed 30 forgeries. It’s a political game. When you are in charge and calling the shots, you’re going to do what’s in your best interest to stay in power.”
State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, said Kemp’s actions amount to “voter suppression.”
Kemp’s office is in the process of spot-checking more than 51,000 applications the New Georgia Project says are languishing in the system. Deputy Secretary of State Tim Fleming said Monday that those applications are being processed by the counties.
“Applications not part of the investigation are being processed or are in the queue to be processed,” Fleming told lawmakers. “Counties can be a few days to several weeks behind.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Muscogee and Fulton counties are among those with the biggest backlogs of applications. Some 6,000 in Fulton County were still being verified; an additional 2,000 were still pending in Muscogee.
The state’s inquiry involves applications in 13 counties. The Democrats don’t object to efforts to be sure all applications are legitimate, but they said Kemp and the Republican Party have unfairly cast the problem as being bigger than it is.
Kemp, who did not appear before the caucus, has said he is obligated to investigate any case of possible voter fraud and noted his office received “numerous complaints” from counties about suspect forms turned in by the New Georgia Project.
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