The Georgia Secretary of State's office is referring for more investigation 1,634 cases of non-citizens who attempted to register to vote, and a handful of those cases are in Northwest Georgia.
The cases were discovered after Secretary Brad Raffensperger completed the first citizenship audit of the voter rolls in the state's history a few weeks ago. The investigations will be conducted by local district attorneys, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the State Election Board, the Georgia Secretary of State's Office announced Monday.
On that same day, Fair Fight Action, an anti-voter suppression organization founded by Stacey Abrams, gave its opening statements on the first day at trial of its lawsuit against Raffensperger. Fair Fight claims he has violated the federal rights of Georgians by erecting obstacles regarding voting, according to the organization's website.
Fair Fight Action Executive Director Cianti Stewart-Reid commented in a written statement: "We will continue to amplify the voices of voters at trial, when Georgians from across the state will testify about the obstacles they faced trying to exercise their fundamental right to vote."
Attempted registrations by non-citizens were found in 88 counties during the citizenship check of the voter rolls. Most, 80.7%, of the attempted registrations have occurred since 2016, the release stated, but some cases go back to 1997. The most recent was February 24, 2022.
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A conviction for attempting to register to vote illegally is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine, Raffensperger said in a radio interview on WDUN, a North Georgia news talk station. Though already illegal, he also said he thinks a constitutional amendment is needed to prevent non-citizens from voting.
FILE - Georgia gubernatorial Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams talks to the media after qualifying for the 2022 election on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
Some of the cases will be referred to Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Chris Arnt, whose jurisdiction includes the Northwest Georgia counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker.
"Attempting to register to vote by an individual who knows he or she is ineligible is a violation of Georgia law," Arnt wrote in a statement released Monday. "I will work together with Secretary Raffensperger to investigate further and prosecute if appropriate."
In a series of responses to emailed questions, Arnt wrote that there are about four cases being sent to his jurisdiction.
"Once we get the case files, an ADA [assistant district attorney] will need to review each one to evaluate the evidence and determine what charges are supported by the evidence," Arnt wrote.
The review may not happen until this summer, he continued, because his office is understaffed, lacking four assistant district attorneys. Meanwhile, the staff he does have is focused on preparing for jury trials in Dade and Walker counties, he said.
In a written release from March 28, Raffensperger credited the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, an online service that verifies citizenship, for preventing the ineligible non-citizens from registering to vote.
"I will continue to secure Georgia's elections from non-citizens attempting to register to vote and cast ballots in the Peach State," Raffensperger said.
None of the non-citizens were allowed to register to vote, the release stated, but instead were placed in a pending status to give them an opportunity to provide proof of citizenship. That process was established because Georgia's citizenship check law is being challenged in federal court by Abrams' Fair Fight Action, the release stated.
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A total of 2,258 voter registration applications are currently in "pending citizenship" status, because there were 624 records for which the Secretary of State's Office was not able to obtain the required information to use the citizenship-verification tool. Those 624 applicants remain in "pending citizenship" status because the citizenship check with the Department of Driver Services at the time of registration flagged those applicants as non-citizens.
The release said the audit proved that "Georgia's citizenship check procedures are working and are vital to ensuring secure elections."
The most attempts to register by non-citizens occurred in DeKalb County with 345, followed by Fulton County with 275 and Gwinnett County with 221. Five counties comprised 69% of the attempted noncitizen applicants: Clayton (141), Cobb (143), Gwinnett (221), Fulton (275) and DeKalb (345).
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.