Jul 16, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Georgia county OKs voter purge reforms to stop NAACP lawsuit

Kierra Frazier

Protesters hold "Count Every Voice, Count Every Vote" signs during the 2020 Presidential election outside the Dekalb County Voter Registration and Elections Office. — Protesters during the 2020 Presidential election outside the Dekalb County Voter Registration and Elections Office. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A Georgia county has agreed to create new policies for the eligibility of all voters based on their residency, resolving a lawsuit claiming DeKalb County purged its voter rolls, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: The agreement highlights the voting battle being fought in Georgia, which helped President Biden claim victory and gave Democrats control of the Senate.

The big picture: The lawsuit was filed in February 2020 by the NAACP and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda.

The groups claim that election officials violated federal law by purging voters from the rolls and would target people living in transitional housing or those experiencing homelessness.
The agreement states that DeKalb County will reinstate dozens of eligible voters who were purged from the voter rolls before the suit was filed in February 2020.

What they're saying: The deal “is a critical step to protecting DeKalb County voters from illegal purges during upcoming municipal elections and the 2022 election cycle,” said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, per Bloomberg.

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Georgia county OKs voter purge reforms to stop NAACP lawsuit

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