Georgia election officials are promoting the use of a state website for canceling voter registrations when individuals move out of state or pass away, following concerns from Republican officials about potentially invalid registrations in the system. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recently launched the site, although its debut was marred by a brief glitch. The glitch allowed individuals to access sensitive information such as a voter’s date of birth, driver’s license number, and the last four digits of their Social Security number. This same information is necessary to verify identity and cancel a voter’s registration.
The issue raised Democratic worries that the site could potentially enable unauthorized individuals to unjustly cancel voter registrations. State Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler expressed concern that individuals with access to someone’s birthdate could modify registrations. The ongoing dispute reflects the broader debate over the extent to which states should purge invalid registrations from their lists. Efforts to clean up voter rolls have become more urgent due to the national initiative, backed by allies of Donald Trump, to remove names from the lists. Activists, influenced by Trump’s claims about the 2020 election, argue that existing cleanup measures are inadequate and prone to fraud.
Until now, canceling a voter registration typically required submitting a form to the relevant county. Addressing concerns about outdated registrations, the state has procedures in place to remove deceased or convicted individuals promptly. However, it can take years to eliminate registrations of individuals who move without canceling. Georgia currently has over 8 million registered voters, with 900,000 classified as inactive.
Secretary of State Raffensperger emphasized the convenience of the website for voters looking to cancel their registration when relocating out of state. The tool aims to streamline the voter registration database without relying on the postal system, which is deemed inefficient. There has been an increase in voter challenges in Georgia, leading to the removal of thousands of registrations. A new state law could potentially expedite the process of winning these challenges.
The website allows voters or their relatives to enter personal details to request registration cancellations, with county officials being notified electronically to effect the removals. For those lacking personal information, the system offers a blank sworn statement for canceling registrations. A temporary glitch occurred during the site’s launch, inadvertently prefilling sensitive details on the statement, potentially enabling unauthorized cancellations. The error was promptly rectified by the Secretary of State’s office.
Democrats have raised concerns about the vulnerability of the website to abuse by individuals seeking to disenfranchise voters through mass challenges. The Democratic Party of Georgia has called for disabling the website due to these concerns.
