Voter registration in Georgia possibly cut by website change

Apr 21, 2022, 3:08 PM | Updated: 3:20 pm

ATLANTA (AP) — A change in a government website that used to make voter registration automatic in Georgia may have resulted in a sharp drop in people registering as they obtained driver’s licenses.

A review of data by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the share of Georgians who registered through the state Department of Driver Services fell from 79% in 2020 to 39% last year.

Pictures of the department’s website show that before January 2021, drivers had to check a box to decline to register or update their voting information. But the website changed last year so that voters had to click “Yes” or “No” when asked if they wanted to register.

However, the intent of the program is to register drivers by default, not give them an option. The share of unregistered Georgia adults had fallen sharply since automatic registration began in 2016, adding more than 1 million people to the voting rolls.

“It’s really not true automatic voter registration,” Eliza Sweren-Becker, an attorney for the Brennan Center for Justice told the newspaper. “This seems like a good example of the importance of automatic voter registration in its proper form. Automatic registration takes some of the stumbling blocks out of the way of voters to help them participate.”

The Department of Driver Services recently changed the website again to make voter registration the default option, but it’s unclear if that will change registration rates. The “opt out” is more prominently displayed than in prior years.

The department said it’s up to drivers to decide.

“They make the choice. The question is still the same, and if that person wants to make a choice, that is their choice to make,” said department spokesperson Shevondah Leslie. “We cannot say that changes to the website made a difference.”

One million fewer people participated in automatic voter registration last year, though many of them are likely already registered, according to department data. About 95% of eligible Georgia voters were registered in 2020, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Still, the change means that people turning 18 or moving to Georgia for the first time may have missed out on getting registered.

Democratic U.S. House members Carolyn Bourdeaux, Nikema Williams and Sanford Bishop wrote letters Wednesday to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland citing “extreme concerns” about decreases in automatic registration.

“This steep decline raises serious questions regarding access to the ballot in this year’s election, including the possibility that voters may believe they are registered to vote but are not and are therefore unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” they wrote.

The three requested an investigation, notification of voters whose registration information wasn’t updated, and provisional ballots for affected voters in the May 24 primary.

A new voter who moved from Florida last year, Jackie Harder, said she tried to register when she got her Georgia driver’s license but later received a notice saying she wasn’t registered.

“This is such a significant drop. I don’t know why that didn’t raise all kinds of red flags,” said Harder, a Blackshear resident who later registered with a paper form. “If people are being disenfranchised, whether due to human or technological errors, that is a big problem.”

In response to questions about automatic registration, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called it “a false political narrative.”

“It remains easy to register, easy to vote, and hard to cheat in Georgia,” Raffensperger said in a statement Tuesday.

All states are required to offer voter registration opportunities at driver’s license offices under a 1993 federal law, but automatic registration is not required.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Haitian migrant Gerson Solay, 28, carries his daughter, Bianca, as he and his family cross into Can...
Associated Press

US, Canada to end loophole that allows asylum-seekers to move between countries

President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a plan to close a loophole to an immigration agreement.
3 days ago
Expert skateboarder Di'Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and...
Associated Press

Indigenous skateboard art featured on new stamps unveiled at Phoenix skate park

The Postal Service unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard" stamps at a Phoenix skate park, featuring designs from Indigenous artists.
3 days ago
(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
9 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
17 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
17 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
24 days ago

Sponsored Articles

(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...
Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.
...
Quantum Fiber

How high-speed fiber internet edges out cable for everyday use

In a world where technology drives so much of our daily lives, a lack of high-speed internet can be a major issue.
(Desert Institute for Spine Care photo)...
DESERT INSTITUTE FOR SPINE CARE

Why DISC is world renowned for back and neck pain treatments

Fifty percent of Americans and 90% of people at least 50 years old have some level of degenerative disc disease.
Voter registration in Georgia possibly cut by website change