Early voting begins in just three days in Georgia — on Monday, October 13. But for over a month, in a craven partisan attack on voting rights, Secretary of State Brian Kemp has refused to add more than 40,000 new voters to the rolls, many of whom applied as far back as May of this year.

On Tuesday, ColorOfChange along with our friends at the New Georgia Project, PowerPAC, Democracy for America, the NAACP, and dozens of concerned Georgia citizens are going to deliver your petitions to Brian Kemp’s office, calling him out publicly for his refusal to do his job.

Join us and thousands of Georgia members to demand that Secretary of State Brian Kemp stop silencing Georgia voters and process all outstanding voter registration forms immediately. It only takes a moment.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Arisha, Aimée, Matt, Johnny, Kenneshea and the entire ColorOfChange.org team

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With less than a week to go, the Georgia Secretary of State is sitting on 50k+ valid voter registrations.Demand Brian Kemp do his job and process these forms immediately

 

With only one week left before the October 6 voter registration deadline, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is refusing to process more than 50,000 valid voter registration forms.¹

Last week, the Secretary of State’s Office announced that it would be investigating the New Georgia Project — a group focused on registering Black, Latino, and other underrepresented Georgia voters² — after finding that only 25 out of 85,000 of the forms submitted might be forged.³ With so little time left for Georgians to register to vote in time for the Nov. 6 election, Kemp’s decision comes off as extremely partisan and very strategic.

Join us and a growing coalition of voices within Georgia in telling Brian Kemp to stop playing politics with Georgia’s freedom to vote. He must process all valid voter registration forms before the October 6 deadline. It only takes a moment.

Kemp was recently captured on tape warning an audience of Republicans in Gwinnett county that local work to register “minority voters” could tip the balance this election.⁴ Now, two months after his speech, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has a backlog of 51,423 voter registration forms. These forms account for more than 50% of the 85,000 submitted by the New Georgia Project and they must be received by Oct. 6 in order for voters to participate in the upcoming midterm elections.⁵

The Supreme Court’s decision last year to gut the Voting Rights Act struck a huge blow, removing a critical barrier to preventing these types of tactics that limit voting rights. Disenfranchising and attempting to intimidate minority voters is a not a new tactic in Georgia — just ask the residents of a town called Quitman. In 2010, in a craven attempt to counteract a projected demographic shift that may turn Georgia from red to purple, Kemp’s office and the state of Georgia conducted a voter fraud witch hunt that, after four years of legal battles, revealed no wrongdoing.⁶ Voters were questioned by armed Georgia agents, coerced into signing statements, and forced to testify for the state during trial after trial. Governor Nathan Deal even got involved by issuing an executive order removing the elected members from office — a pretty heavy-handed and intimidating power play for a school board election in a town with a population of less than 4,000.⁷

Not only is processing these voter registrations the right thing to do, but it’s also Brian Kemp’s job to do so. While County officials must vet registrations, it is the Secretary of State who is responsible for processing all voter registrations. If anything, he should be doing everything in his power to ensure that these applications are filed before the deadline instead of halting the process and sitting on his hands.

Demand Secretary of State Brian Kemp process all of the valid voter registration forms that his office has on hold. Once you have done so, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and peace,

— Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Aimée, Kenneshea, and the rest of the ColorOfChange team
October 10th, 2014

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. “Mass Vote Registration in Georgia Brings Accusations of Voter Fraud,” Newsweek, 09-23-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3969?t=8&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

2. “Georgia GOP official express concerns about ‘minority voters’,” MSNBC, 09-11-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3973?t=10&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

3. “A first glimpse into Brian Kemp’s voter registration probe,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09-17-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3972?t=12&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

4. “What Brian Kemp really said about Democratic voter registration efforts,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09-11-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3970?t=14&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

5. “Why Does Georgia Keep Going After Black Voters?,” Vice, 09-18-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3971?t=16&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

6. “Georgia GOP official express concerns about ‘minority voters’,” MSNBC, 09-11-14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3973?t=18&akid=3739.1174326.8e-FFy

7. See reference 5.

One of the highest tides to hit Florida’s coastline this year arrived at approximately 10:08 a.m. today.

 I hope you’ll join me and other Florida Democrats to make sure Charlie Crist wins in November.

fladems.com

 

And there we were, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and I, checking out the new pumping system in Miami Beach designed to keep water from gushing knee-deep over the streets of a bustling city.

The King Tide, as it’s called, offers us a scary glimpse of what it could look like in the not-too-distant future – if we don’t start taking more action now to combat sea-level rise. When it comes to the effects of sea-level rise, Florida will be ground zero.

Unfortunately, though, what we have right now is a governor who declares he’s not a scientist to justify ignoring the problem.

But what we also have is a chance – a chance to do something about it. Rick Scott’s opponent in next month’s election is Charlie Crist. In response to the governor’s recent comment, Charlie said: “I’m not a scientist either – but I can use my brain and I can talk to one.”

While scientists and researchers indicate South Florida will be hit the hardest, make no mistake about it, the entire state of Florida – from Miami to Jacksonville – will feel the effects. We don’t need a scientist -what we need is a leader.

Will you help us make sure that Florida Democrats have the resources they need to help elect Charlie Crist in November?

Thanks for all you do,

Bill Nelson

You don’t send a SWAT team to someone who is having a heart attack. So why would you send them to someone having a mental health crisis?

OverCriminalized, our new 3 part series done in partnership with the ACLU and The Nation, investigates the criminal justice system’s obsession with imprisoning people with mental health and substance abuse issues and those suffering from homelessness.

Most importantly, it presents us with ways to solve the problem, save lives, and save YOU money.

Click here for an action guide on how to make these programs a reality in your community.

If you are pissed off about how we are throwing people’s lives away and wasting your tax dollars, forward this video to your local elected representatives and television and radio stations today.

The investigation is done. The solutions are clear. Now it’s your turn to step up. Change begins one voice at a time. Make it begin with yours. Now.

Thank you for your action – we cannot make an impact without it.

Robert Greenwald, President
Brave New Films