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False & misleading claims of voter fraud are not new in GA. They've always led to fear/intimidation/suppression. The GOP officials that happily spread false claims of fraud against voters w/o evidence for yrs laid the groundwork. But today, I have time 4 the ppl in the back: 1/16
2020: GA SOS Announced an Investigation/Potential Criminal Prosecutions of 1000 Georgians Accused of Voting Twice; He Provided No Evidence 4 The Alleged Fraud (this # is now at 400 today w/ no explanation) 2/16 https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910653086/georgia-reveals-double-voting-cases-but-no-evidence-of-malign-intentions
2020: Georgia Republicans Tried to Challenge 14,000 Fulton County Voters & Purge Them From Voter Rolls Right Before The Election Claiming They Were Fraudulent Registrations. 3/16 https://atlantatribune.com/2020/09/29/fulton-county-judge-dismisses-attempted-voter-roll-purge/
2020: GA SOS Announced A 12-Member Absentee Ballot “Fraud Task Force” Made Of Nearly All White, Republican, Prosecutors. Saying “It’s Not Clear What [Democrats] Would Like to Do With So Many Loose Ballot Request Forms” 4/16 https://www.wsj.com/articles/voter-suppression-and-real-election-facts-11587932494?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
2018: Kemp’s SOS Office Accused DPG Of Election Fraud Days BF the Election. The Next Day, They Learned The DHS-In Explicit Partnership With Their Own Office- Was Responsible. Yet They Allowed The Investigation to Continue For 18 months. 5/16 https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/became-political-inside-kemp-false-election-hacking-allegations/xcMXfkgKGRsFxOeglGn57N/
2018: A Federal Court Ruled Against Kemp False Claims of Fraud and Mandated Changes To Ensure 3,141 Voters His Office Had Tagged As Ineligible NonCitizens Could Vote Without Undue Burden. 6/16 https://time.com/5444011/judge-georgia-exact-match-vote-brian-kemp-stacy-abrams/
2018: After The AP Discovered SOS Kemp Placed 53,000 Voter Applications On Hold, 70% of Whom Were Black, Kemp Claimed He Was Protecting Elections From Fraudulent “Illegal Voting.” 7/16 https://apnews.com/article/0674d8683bbe4c38b28301645ab48b8f
2016: Following Litigation, SOS Kemp Restored Tens of Thousands of Predominately Black, Latino, and Asian American Voters Registrations Blocked Due to False Voter Fraud Concerns. 8/16 https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/georgia-settles-federal-lawsuit-alleging-blocked-thousands-minority-voters/4M2dMAHDRvC8fLYoV01fxN/
2015: The Hancock County BOE Challenged 17% Of Registered Voters In the County, Nearly All Of Whom Were Black- & Sent Armed Officers To Voters’ Homes To Demand They Prove Their Registration. 9/16 https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/groups-settle-suit-alleging-black-voters-wrongfully-disqualified/XzqFVMtXGH226dnDxkUbjJ/
2014: Kemp Launched An Investigation Into The New Georgia Project Accusing Them “Significant Illegal Activities” Re: 85,000 VRegistrations. The Chief Investigator Later Admitted There Was No Evidence of Any Widespread Registration Fraud By NGP. 10/16 https://newrepublic.com/article/121715/georgia-secretary-state-hammers-minority-voter-registration-efforts
2012: Kemp Launched a 2.5 Year Voter Registration Fraud Investigation Against the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center After The Center Inquired Into The SOS Backlogged Registrations. The Investigation Ended in 2015 W/ “No Finding Of Violations.” 11/16 https://newrepublic.com/article/121715/georgia-secretary-state-hammers-minority-voter-registration-efforts
2012: Olivia Pearson, A Black Grandmother In Douglas County, Was Charged w/ 4 Voter Fraud Felonies & Subjected To 8yrs of State & County Investigations. ALL STATE CLAIMS WERE DROPPED & A 2020 JURY ACQUITTED HER OF THE REMAINING FELONIES IN 20 MIN. 12/16 https://www.ajc.com/blog/investigations/jury-quickly-says-not-guilty-georgia-elections-case/uxbnZO4AUxmBQfTmVGZjXK/
2010: Kemp’s SOS/The AG Arrested & Charged 12 Black Women in Quitman w/ 120 Counts of Felony Voter Fraud & Sent Armed Investigators Door-to-Door After Complaints of Higher AfAm Absentee Ballot Use. After 4Yrs, ALL CHARGES WERE DROPPED OR DISMISSED. 13/16 https://eji.org/news/georgia-voter-fraud-prosecution-ploy-suppress-black-votes/
2009: The DOJ Ruled That Nearly 5,000 Registered GA Voters Were Illegally Challenged By SOS Karen Handel in 2008 Due To Exact Match Policy She Implemented to Stop Nonexistent Voter Fraud 14/16 https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/karen-handel-has-a-long-history-of-suppressing-votes/
2004: Blanket Voter Challenges Claiming Fraud Were Issued Against Nearly 80% Of The Latino Voters In Atkinson County. Similar Challenges Issued In Long County & Atlanta w/ No Evidence “Other than the voters’ Hispanic names or self-reported ethnicity” 15/16 http://www.projectvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Caging_Democracy_Report.pdf
So let’s be real clear in these streets about how we got here. The problem is not just disinformation. It is also the GA GOP wielding the power of the state to perpetuate lies that allow disinformation to spread easily & lay the groundwork to suppress black & brown votes. 16/16
