ATLANTA-In a race marred by blatant examples of voter suppression and voting machine irregularities the NAACP Georgia State Conference partnering with Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law won an injunction against the use of the controversial voter regulating software –Exact Match.
In the ruling which challenged Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s decision to not process 53,000 voter registration applications – an estimated 70 percent Black—the federal court in Atlanta granted the NAACP’s request for a preliminary injunction to allow persons whose registration applications are being held in “pending” status because of citizenship, to be able to vote regular ballots upon presenting proof of citizenship at the polls. Today’s ruling will directly affect about 3100 applications.
“Georgia’s attempt to deter voters of color from exercising their right to vote is downright appalling,” said NAACP General Counsel Brad Berry. “We are keeping a very close eye on the state and will continue to scrutinize any voter irregularities and challenge them legally.”
The motion for a preliminary injunction was limited to the “citizenship subset” of the approximately 53,000 applications held in pending status due to the “exact match” system. As a result of today’s ruling, all persons whose applications were flagged and held as a result of the “exact match” system will be able to vote upon presenting photo identification and/or citizenship verification at the polls.
“This is a battle won, but the war against voter suppression and the attempts to disrespect, diminish or minimize the voting power of the Black Community continues and the NAACP is front center in leading this charge,” said NAACP Georgia State President Phyllis Blake.
