ATLANTA — Today marks a crucial deadline for Georgia voters to confirm their registration status as the state conducts a voter registration audit that could remove approximately 478,000 voters from the rolls.
The audit, mandated by state and federal law every two years, is the largest since 2017 and one of the largest in the country.
The Secretary of State’s Office sent cancellation notices to these voters 40 days ago, and today is the final day for them to confirm their registration.
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Blake Evans, the State Elections Director, explained that many of the voters affected have either moved away, are deceased, or have had mail returned as undeliverable.
“Of these 478-thousand, we know that many of these people have moved away in many cases. Or they’re deceased -- and we never got that information from the Department of Public Health,” Evans told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims.
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Gabe Sterling, the former Chief Operating Officer for the Secretary of State’s Office, emphasized that any eligible voter removed from the rolls can re-register.
“Let us know you’re still here, go and update your record and you’ll be moved to active,” Sterling said.
The audit process is part of routine maintenance required to keep voter lists accurate and up-to-date, officials told Channel 2 Action News.
However, it has drawn criticism from voting rights groups like Fair Fight, which argue that the cancellations amount to “voter suppression by administrative process” and disproportionately affect Black voters.
In addition to the 478,000 voters facing immediate cancellation, there are nearly 218,000 more voters listed as active but who have not had any activity in more than five years. If these voters remain inactive for two more election cycles, their registrations could be cancelled in 2029.
As the deadline approaches, state officials urge affected voters to confirm their registration status to avoid being removed from the rolls. The outcome of this audit will have significant implications for voter participation in future elections.
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