Georgia’s leading election official hits out at voter advocacy groups after three registration postcards were sent to his son TWO years after he died
- Brad Raffensperger revealed an advocacy group sent three voter registration postcards to his dead son Brenton, who passed away two years ago
- He renewed warnings to groups who are attempting to register ineligible voters
- He announced his office has launched an investigation into several groups
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has revealed an advocacy group sent three voter registration postcards to his dead son who passed away two years ago.
He renewed warnings to those groups who have ‘repeatedly and aggressively’ sought to register ineligible or deceased voters for the Senate runoff elections on January 5.
The postcards were all received from New Georgia Project, a group which claims to get its voter information from the state’s official voter rolls, Raffensperger said.
‘Here’s something that came to our house yesterday. We got three of them all from the same organisation. It’s to my son Brenton J. Raffensperger who passed away two years ago,’ Raffensperger said during a press conference on Wednesday. ‘He is not on our voter files here in Georgia. We checked.’
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has revealed an advocacy group sent three voter registration postcards (pictured) to his dead son who passed away two years ago
Earlier on Wednesday Raffensperger announced his office has launched an investigation into several groups, including America Votes, Vote Forward and New Georgia Project.
In a statement, he said the groups have ‘repeatedly and aggressively sought to register ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters’ before the runoff elections in January.
Individuals in Georgia have reported voter registration cords sent by The New Georgia Project to individuals living out of state and to people who have passed away, Raffensperger said.
One resident from Fulton County reported receiving five postcards, soliciting registration for the ‘same dead person’, he added.
Meanwhile Vote Forward, a nonprofit organization, sent a letter to a long-deceased Alabama resident, encouraging her to register to vote.
‘Here’s something that came to our house yesterday. We got three of them all from the same organisation. It’s to my son Brenton J. Raffensperger who passed away two years ago,’ Raffensperger said during a press conference on Wednesday.
America Votes, which calls itself ‘the coordination hub of the progressive community,’ sent two absentee ballot applications in one week to an individual at an address where they had not resided since July 1994, Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger has issued warnings in recent weeks against efforts to register individuals who are ineligible to cast ballots in the Senate runoffs or to encourage people to travel to Georgia solely to cast ballots.
‘I have issued clear warnings several times to groups and individuals working to undermine the integrity of elections in Georgia through false and fraudulent registrations,’ he said.
‘The security of Georgia’s elections is of the utmost importance. We have received specific evidence that these groups have solicited voter registrations from ineligible individuals who have passed away or live out of state.
‘I will investigate these claims thoroughly and take action against anyone attempting to undermine our elections.’
Under the Georgia Code, false voter registration is a crime and can lead to up to ten years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
For those groups who are organizing false registration could face between 5 to 20 years in prison if charged with felony racketeering.
