By Logan Johns<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Georgia’s 2026 midterm elections approaching, voting rights advocates are urging Black voters to check their registration status early as the state increases challenges to who is eligible to remain on its voter rolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Georgia is conducting its third citizenship audit of registered voters since 2022, an effort Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says is designed to ensure that only U.S. citizens participate in the state’s elections. His office uses information from the Georgia Department of Driver Services to identify people whose citizenship status may require verification and has used the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, known as SAVE, for further verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CBS political correspondent Nikole Killion covered Georgia’s 2022 midterm election, reporting on the governor’s race and the closely contested U.S. Senate race. She said state and local election officials play a critical role in maintaining confidence in the election process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“High kudos and praise to a lot of the state and local elections officials, because they truly are the ones holding it down, even at a time where they are losing a lot of federal funding, to ensure that we have a free and fair election,” Killion said. “So I think that tension, state and local officials trying to hold the line at a time where, federally, the results may be called into question, is certainly a dynamic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As another major election approaches, Georgia’s focus on voter eligibility is raising broader questions among voting rights organizers about access to the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fennika Miller, field director for Black Voters Matter, pointed to the backlash and challenges Georgia voters faced after the 2020 election. She said the organization’s mission going forward is to protect Black voters’ access to the ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We saw that backlash, where folks put in place new ID requirements, reduced the availability of drop boxes, and put restrictions on providing food and water to folks who were waiting in long lines,” Miller said. “Georgia explicitly allows individuals to challenge unlimited numbers of voters in their particular counties.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden carried Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1992. The election and its aftermath intensified national scrutiny of Georgia’s election system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miller pointed to changes that followed, including new identification requirements for absentee voting and a state system that allows individuals to challenge other voters’ eligibility. She said those changes came after voters demonstrated their political power in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We saw folks with great hope and expressions of power at the ballot box, and saw that manifest in flipping Georgia blue. And then we also saw the tremendous backlash,” Miller said. “We want to fight back. We’re going to show folks that you’re not going to diminish our power in this way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those challenges have become particularly significant as Georgia heads toward another midterm election. Voting rights advocates have also focused on the impact of Senate Bill 202, the sweeping election law signed after Georgia’s record-breaking 2020 turnout. The law added identification requirements for absentee ballots and limited the availability of ballot drop boxes, among other changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kareem Crayton of the Brennan Center for Justice said these concerns are particularly important in communities where voters face long lines, lack convenient access to early voting locations and lack the flexibility to cast a ballot before Election Day. He said restrictions can have a greater impact on voters with fewer alternatives for casting their ballots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For some, this is the only way, voters who maybe don’t have readily accessible spots to get an early ballot, or just don’t have time to do it. This is their only opportunity,” Crayton said. “And I think one of the problems with the Senate bill that got adopted here was that it not only criminalized behavior to help people, it then sent a message to voters that they are not going to make voting easy for you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the 2026 midterms approach, Killion said President Donald Trump’s recent comments about election security and foreign interference are worth watching when results come in. She said the comments have raised concerns about how the president could respond to election results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We saw a couple weeks ago the president gave that speech from the White House, from the Oval Office, where he laid out this case of potential foreign interference by China and released some documents around that,” Killion said. “But I think some people feel he may be using that as a pretext to challenge results.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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