A group that filed suit over tens of thousands of “missing” voter registration applications sought to dismiss Chatham County from its lawsuit on Friday after reaching an agreement to ensure eligible Georgians there can vote Nov. 4.
The agreement came minutes before the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights began arguments before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher, who did not rule immediately on the case. Chatham is the second Georgia county to be dismissed. The first, DeKalb, reached agreement with the group earlier this week.
The Lawyers’ Committee wants proof of how Secretary of State Brian Kemp and now three Georgia counties — Clayton, Fulton and Muscogee — handled the applications of about 49,000 people submitted by the state’s Oct. 6 voter registration deadline. That number had initially climbed past 55,000 before DeKalb and Chatham were dismissed from the suit.
Kemp has repeatedly said no eligible voter has been left off the state’s voting rolls, and he has called the suit “frivolous.” The counties, too, have maintained that they have processed all eligible applications submitted to them.
Sparring by the two sides Friday continued that theme. Attorneys for the Lawyers’ Committee said they have copies of applications filled out by registrants but never entered into county systems. Attorneys for the state and counties, however, said a number of applicants affected by the suit are already on the state’s active voter rolls. They said they have no records on a number of others. Still others are on “pending” lists that require the applicants to provide more information to confirm their identities.
The group said errors in the information being supplied to the counties by the state have caused applications from eligible Georgians to be flagged and canceled.
It has suggested remedies could include mandating that either the state or counties hire more staff to process applications or investigate where they went. It may also include a court-appointed monitor to issue recommendations.
Brasher, however, seemed skeptical of that request, saying the group was asking for “extraordinary” measures when plans already existed to assist voters. That includes working with local authorities to verify the applications. It also includes allowing voters to cast provisional ballots on Election Day pending verification of their identity.
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