On Monday morning, Georgia Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp went on Newstalk 750 AM and discussed the accusations of intentionally holding up 53,000 voter registration applications.
Kemp, is the overseer of Georgia elections, told WSB’s Scott Slade Monday that about 75 percent of the names on the state’s “pending” list failed a federal match standard because their last four Social Security numbers didn’t match their voter registration applications. However, 70% of the voter applications are by African-Americans.
Kemp said another 14 percent of the “pending” names have been on the list since the 2014 midterms, and an unspecified number had moved or were deceased.
“Stacey Abrams is accusing me of following the law,” Kemp said. “When people hear the truth, they’re going to be outraged that Stacey Abrams is lying to them.”
Kemp said that the incorrect Social Security numbers were a sign that applicants either “made the number up or messed the number up.” And he highlighted one of the applications that had the name “Jesus” from “Heaven Street.”
“As much as I’d like to register Jesus to vote in Georgia,” the Republican candidate said, “the law says I can’t do that.”
Here is the explanation of the “exact-match system:”
Under a 2017 Georgia law, a voter registration application is complete when information on the form exactly matches records kept by Georgia’s Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administration.
If there’s no match, it’s placed on a pending status and the applicant is notified in the form of a letter from the county board of registrars about the need to provide additional documentation. It’s then up to the applicant to provide sufficient evidence to verify his or her identity.
Prospective voters have 26 months from the date of the original application to clear up any issues with their application. If they don’t, the application is rejected. A new application would need to be submitted to successfully register to vote.
About 53,000 voter registration applications are pending in Georgia — and 70% are from African-Americans, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Pending applicants can still vote, provided they can produce proper photo identification at their polling place.
Sunday at the IBEW 613, Abrams implored supporters to vote and vote early. Abrams encouraged her supporters to “make people tell you no.”
“My daddy told me, ‘You don’t tell yourself no. You let someone else tell you,’” Abrams said. “Everybody who is eligible to vote needs to go and try and vote. If they are not permitted to vote, they need to call 866-OUR-VOTE.”
