Activists Dubbed ‘Investigators’ Intensify Efforts to Purge Voter Rolls, Employing New Data Tools and Controversial Legal Arguments

In Georgia, the issue of voter challenges has reached a critical point, with over 360,000 voters challenged during the 2021 Senate runoff elections alone. Recent data from major counties in 2023 revealed more than 8,600 voter registrations being challenged. Notably, many of these challenges were initiated by individual voters, with some bringing forth thousands of objections.

While a federal court in January ruled that the challenges in 2021 didn’t constitute voter suppression, concerns persist as True the Vote, the organization behind many of these challenges, plans to escalate its efforts ahead of the upcoming November election. Catherine Engelbrecht, the group’s leader, is spearheading this campaign, promoting new software programs aimed at facilitating challenges. However, scrutiny of these programs by Wired magazine has raised doubts about their effectiveness and reliability.

Engelbrecht defended True the Vote’s efforts, emphasizing their support for voters in reviewing local voter-roll records and dismissing Wired’s findings. Meanwhile, Republicans in the State Senate are pushing legislation to streamline the process of challenging a voter’s eligibility, leveraging the Postal Service’s change of address database for this purpose.

Despite objections from officials like Karli Swift, a member of DeKalb County’s board of elections, who cites the lack of evidence supporting these claims, preparations are underway for an expected surge in voter challenges by certain groups leading up to the November general election.

Trump’s Allies Ramp Up Campaign Targeting Voter Rolls – The New York Times (nytimes.com)