During the May 2024 state primary in Georgia, Atlanta attorney Candace Smith encountered a challenge to her voter registration status, despite being a long-time active voter with no evidence or reason provided for the challenge. This reflects a growing trend in Georgia, where conservative activists are challenging hundreds of thousands of voter registrations, disproportionately impacting voters of color. The passage of SB 189 has exacerbated the issue, giving individuals greater power to challenge voter registrations and burdening local election boards with a deluge of challenges. While only a small number of people are filing these challenges, the open-ended nature of the laws allows them to cast a wide net.
The use of technology, like EagleAI, has enabled activists to identify potential registration errors and submit challenges, leading to voter intimidation and confusion. Additionally, the new legislation fails to place restrictions on evidence submission or the number of challenges one person can submit, causing chaos for local election boards. These challenges, even when unsuccessful, have downstream effects such as voter intimidation and wasting election officials’ time. Civil rights groups argue that these tactics are part of a broader effort to suppress minority voter access, fueled by long-standing election fraud conspiracy theories and suspicion of minority, college, and Black neighborhoods.
For voters of color, being challenged can evoke painful reminders of historical discrimination and disenfranchisement. This new face of voter suppression in Georgia highlights the need for greater protections for voters and clearer regulations regarding voter challenges to ensure fair and equal access to the ballot box.
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