Voting rights group sues Raffensperger over voter cancellation documents

A Georgia voting rights group and two labor unions are suing Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for refusing to hand over records related to a 2025 mass voter registration cancellation.

The lawsuit alleges Raffensperger violated the National Voter Registration Act by refusing to let Black Voters Matter and local affiliates of the Communications Workers of America labor union inspect all records they requested related to the voter list maintenance effort. The groups filed the suit in federal court in Atlanta on Friday.

“The limited information the Secretary’s office released to the public raised as many questions as it provided answers,” the groups argued. “Most notably, the Secretary did not explain in any detail his office’s methodology for identifying voters to place on the Purge List.”

In July, Raffensperger announced the cancellation of about 478,000 voter registrations that were in an inactive status — among the largest mass voter cancellations in U.S. history. The state does similar cancellations every two years, targeting registrations of people who moved or didn’t participate in recent elections.

Last summer’s cancellation amounted to about 6% of Georgia’s registered voters. The exercise made the state’s rolls “the most accurate list in the country,” said Gabriel Sterling, then Raffensperger’s chief operating officer. Sterling resigned and is now running for secretary of state.

In their legal brief, the groups said the purge created “uncertainties” and concerns among Georgia voters.

“These included concerns about whether the purge would result in the improper removal of eligible voters — particularly minority voters and voters who move frequently,” the groups wrote.

More than 5,000 Georgians targeted in the purge renewed their registrations before being removed from the rolls by replying to notification letters or verifying their information online. Ultimately, about 471,000 were purged once state officials completed the cancellation.

The groups suing Raffensperger sought information in September about the voters placed on the cancellation list, including what was sent to impacted voters, responses from them, their recent voting history and the methodology used by state officials to select registrations to cancel.

The groups received some of the requested information, but attorneys contended the responses were “deficient.”

“The Secretary failed to produce records reflecting when each voter was sent initial and follow-up notices, details regarding any responses (or lack thereof) to such notices, and the last election in which voters on the Purge List voted.”

The groups sent a letter explaining the deficiencies, but state election officials neither responded to it nor corrected the alleged violations of federal voting law within the statutorily required 90 days, attorneys wrote.