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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp Faces Investigation for Voter Suppression

Article written by Michelle GlauberzonThe newly elected governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp (R), has been asked to turn over documents relating to the midterm election. Kemp won narrowly over democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in the 2018 midterms.Brian Kemp oversaw his own election while serving as secretary of state. He came under fire as people contested that Kemp’s office was a conflict of interest and allowed Kemp to place tens of thousands of registrations on hold, as well as purge voters from the rolls. These actions all led to a chaotic voting process on Election Day. On March 6th, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had given Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger until March 20 to provide a range of documents relating to purported voter suppression. These documents range from holds placed on voter registration applications and cancellation registrations of inactive voters to polling site changes and closings.James Raskin head of the subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties wrote to Mr.Kemp, “The committee is particularly concerned by reports that Georgians faced unprecedented challenges with registering to vote and significant barriers to casting their votes during your tenure as secretary of state and during the 2018 election.” Voter suppression is not legal, yet it continues to be witnessed across many elections. Another recent example took place in New Hampshire where strict voter registration laws require those registering within 30 days of an election to prove they live in the ward or town. These laws disadvantaged over 90,000 students in the state. Strict laws are in place to stop voter suppression but it continues to limit the eligible population of voters. After Trump’s election and the subsequent investigation into Russian meddling affecting the election results, people’s suspicion of voter suppression has been heightened. This attention to detail to the purging of voters will certainly continue leading up to the 2020 election and cause government officials looking to make the laws surrounding such fraud more strict.     https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/us/politics/governor-brian-kemp-voter-suppression.htmlhttps://www.axios.com/house-democrats-probing-georgia-gov-brian-kemp-voter-suppression--21941466-fbf2-4e58-9dc8-aab50c7f408f.htmlhttps://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2018/11/20/461296/voter-suppression-2018-midterm-elections/