# Georgia purges 1 in 10 voters from voter rolls **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 10, 2018, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742 "2018-10-10T10:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/21 "2018-10-10T15:32:52Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Who spends any time looking ta junk mail? Old people. Old people are more likely to be Republican and more likely to vote. > > I’m sort of kidding in that post, but only half so. I think that if you’re looking at laws that make it more difficult to vote, unless there is a really good reason for the law, it’s reasonable to assume that the law was intended to help one political side at the expense of the other. You don’t have to find some rock-solid evidence otherwise. Voter rolls have to be kept up to date. If someone has not voted for a while the state reaches out to see if they are still at the same address. If they do not respond they are taken off the rolls and they have to re-register. How pathetic are people that either voting every couple years, responding to a postcard, or registering to vote is undoable? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/22 "2018-10-10T15:35:58Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Voter rolls have to be kept up to date. If someone has not voted for a while the state reaches out to see if they are still at the same address. If they do not respond they are taken off the rolls and they have to re-register. How pathetic are people that either voting every couple years, responding to a postcard, or registering to vote is undoable? People are pretty pathetic, and you can quote me on that. Taking advantage of that for political gains is _no bueno_. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/23 "2018-10-10T16:00:48Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Wait for it, wait for it: “America’s not a democracy; it’s a republic.” But “America” doesn’t have a nationwide popular vote of any sort - not even to ratify proposed Constitutional amendments (the way, say, Australia does) - and each state is a democracy, at least when it comes to electing its Senators. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/24 "2018-10-10T16:17:32Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Voter rolls have to be kept up to date. If someone has not voted for a while the state reaches out to see if they are still at the same address. If they do not respond they are taken off the rolls and they have to re-register. How pathetic are people that either voting every couple years, responding to a postcard, or registering to vote is undoable? It’s all in the intent. The intent here is to prevent certain people from voting. Thus you notify them by postcard, which can be easily lost in the mail, not delivered, or mistaken for junk mail. Whether they vote regularly or not is their right and they should not lose the right to vote by virtue of not voting often. The people aren’t pathetic, the Republicans who want to keep them from voting are. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/25 "2018-10-10T16:24:43Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Voter rolls have to be kept up to date. If someone has not voted for a while the state reaches out to see if they are still at the same address. If they do not respond they are taken off the rolls and they have to re-register. How pathetic are people that either voting every couple years, responding to a postcard, or registering to vote is undoable? But if my postman doesn’t deliver it, or it looks like junk (I personally do a very fast sort of junk vs. read), then I get unregistered. And I don’t know I’m not registered until I show up at the polling place and get turned away. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/26 "2018-10-10T16:33:36Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > It’s all in the intent. The intent here is to prevent certain people from voting. Thus you notify them by postcard, which can be easily lost in the mail, not delivered, or mistaken for junk mail. Whether they vote regularly or not is their right and they should not lose the right to vote by virtue of not voting often. The people aren’t pathetic, the Republicans who want to keep them from voting are. What certain people does the return of postcards prevent from voting? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/27 "2018-10-10T16:40:53Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What certain people does the return of postcards prevent from voting? If you target specific populations, then a certain percentage of that specific population will be prevented from voting. Those who are not targeted will not be affected. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/28 "2018-10-10T16:52:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What certain people does the return of postcards prevent from voting? The certain people to whom cards were sent in the first place. You don’t think they select areas for the purge? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/29 "2018-10-10T16:56:07Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The certain people to whom cards were sent in the first place. You don’t think they select areas for the purge? Did they select areas for the purge? Or did they mail cards to everyone in the state who hadn’t voted in the previous two general election cycles? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/30 "2018-10-10T16:57:59Z")
Goto 20 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/31 "2018-10-10T17:05:02Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If you target specific populations, then a certain percentage of that specific population will be prevented from voting. Those who are not targeted will not be affected. The specific population that is being targeted is people who didn’t vote in the last election, didn’t notify the county of their change of address, and don’t read their mail. The Georgia Secretary of State’s [website](http://sos.ga.gov/index.php/Elections/register_to_vote) gives the requirements for voter registration. One of the things mentioned is pretty clear - > [@](#): > > Voters are required to notify the board of registrars of their county of residence whenever they move. Those are being prevented from voting are those who didn’t vote last time, don’t have Internet access or a printer, can’t afford a stamp or an envelope, can’t make it to their local county board of registrars’ office or election office, public library, public assistance office, recruitment office, schools, and other government offices, have not applied for or renewed a driver’s license, and is not a college student. That sounds pretty specific to me. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/32 "2018-10-10T17:08:18Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Did they select areas for the purge? Or did they mail cards to everyone in the state who hadn’t voted in the previous two general election cycles? Did they decide to do this now because they knew that Democratic turn-out was smaller than it had been in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/33 "2018-10-10T17:09:51Z")
Well, it seems like in this particular instance, they decided to do it in 2017. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/34 "2018-10-10T17:16:39Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Voter rolls have to be kept up to date. If someone has not voted for a while\* the state reaches out to see if they are still at the same address\*\*. If they do not respond\*\*\* they are taken off the rolls and they have to re-register. How pathetic are people that either voting every couple years\*\*\*\*, responding to a postcard, or registering to vote\*\*\*\*\* is undoable? \*Since the last election, including midterms, usually less than two years ago \*\*By sending an easy-to-miss postcard that many will dismiss as junk mail because it is designed to look like junk mail \*\*\*Within 30 days \*\*\*\*Which has been made harder by the same people pushing this \*\*\*\*\*Which has been made _substantially_ harder by the same people pushing this It feels like there’s a whole lot of asterisks needed to make what you posted look at all like the full picture. Sure, if you ignore _everything wrong with this picture_, things look hunky-dory. Oh, also, the biggest, fattest asterisk belongs on the _first_ sentence, because that’s the biggest misleading thing - where you pretend this is just business as usual. Because it isn’t! States have kept their voter rolls clean in the past, but this is actually a new strategy. And it’s one that is having a _dramatic_ effect on voters - at least 100,000 of the people purged were confirmed to be still living in Georgia, and this strategy purged _one in ten people in the state_. Over half a million people, in a state with a population of 3 million. That’s _weird_, right? Doesn’t that strike you as at least a _little_ odd? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/35 "2018-10-10T17:33:26Z")
It sounds like Democrats are worried because they might lose votes among people who don’t read their mail, don’t know how to work a stamp, and don’t vote anyway. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/36 "2018-10-10T17:35:06Z")
> [@](#): > > …Doesn’t that strike you as at least a little odd? Not in the least, the motivations and mechanisms are perfectly clear. How dearly I wish it were weird and abnormal. If any of you feel less informed than you might wish, _Talking Points Memo_ has an excellent and concise breakdown of How The Fuck We Got Into This Mess. [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/abrams-kemp-bring-long-running-war-over-voting-rights-to-georgia-governors-race](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/abrams-kemp-bring-long-running-war-over-voting-rights-to-georgia-governors-race) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/37 "2018-10-10T19:32:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It sounds like Democrats are worried because they might lose votes among people who don’t read their mail, don’t know how to work a stamp, and don’t vote anyway. How about being worried that democracy itself is being undermined? Did that one ever occur to you? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/38 "2018-10-10T19:40:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It sounds like Democrats are worried because they might lose votes among people who don’t read their mail, don’t know how to work a stamp, and don’t vote anyway. > > Regards, > Shodan There is a conservative idea, exemplified here, that Democrats just want poor people to have access to the polls because it’ll boost their numbers. That’s exactly backward. Democrats want increased access to the polls– **and that’s part of why poor people support Democrats**. If it were only about relative partisan advantage, the Republican efforts to disenfranchise black people and poor people would be matched by Democratic efforts to disenfranchise the rural and rich white people. But you don’t see those efforts by Democrats: Democrats try to win by increasing, not decreasing, access to polls, because increasing civic engagement is a core value. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/39 "2018-10-10T20:00:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There is a conservative idea, exemplified here, that Democrats just want poor people to have access to the polls because it’ll boost their numbers. > > That’s exactly backward. > > Democrats want increased access to the polls– **and that’s part of why poor people support Democrats**. > > If it were only about relative partisan advantage, the Republican efforts to disenfranchise black people and poor people would be matched by Democratic efforts to disenfranchise the rural and rich white people. But you don’t see those efforts by Democrats: Democrats try to win by increasing, not decreasing, access to polls, because increasing civic engagement is a core value. I see what point you are trying to make, and I agree with you. I don’t think the Democrats are doing what they do for (purely) partisan reasons. But your logic is faulty on that last part. You are arguing: - There are two paths the Democrats can take, both of which give them a partisan advantage. - Because the Democrats are taking only one path, and not the other, that proves they are taking that one path for non-partisan reasons. But a party doesn’t have to take all possible paths in order for it to be taking one path for partisan reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742/40 "2018-10-10T20:08:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I see what point you are trying to make, and I agree with you. I don’t think the Democrats are doing what they do for (purely) partisan reasons. But your logic is faulty on that last part. You are arguing: > > - There are two paths the Democrats can take, both of which give them a partisan advantage. > - Because the Democrats are taking only one path, and not the other, that proves they are taking that one path for non-partisan reasons. > > But a party doesn’t have to take all possible paths in order for it to be taking one path for partisan reasons. I mean, I know the Democrats are famously inept at electioneering, but the idea that there’s an obvious partisan political move they could make, and they’re not making it because it hasn’t occurred to them? Not buying it: they’re not making it because it’s against the core value of an engaged electorate. Of course this isn’t universal: there have definitely been the odd occurrences where someone on the left tries to suppress the vote. Nothing like the multi-tiered Republican efforts to decrease voter turnout, however. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-purges-1-in-10-voters-from-voter-rolls/822742.md?page=3)