Georgia Begins Largest Voter Roll Purge Removing 478K Inactive Registrations

Georgia officials have initiated one of the largest voter registration purges in the state's history, targeting nearly 478,000 inactive voters who have not engaged with the election system for over four years. The Secretary of State's office, led by Brad Raffensperger, confirmed that letters have been sent to these voters, giving them 40 days to respond or update their information to avoid removal from the rolls. This effort, supported by data from the Electronic Registration Information Center, aims to remove voters who likely moved out of state, have undeliverable mail, or filed a change of address, with officials asserting the goal is to maintain the most accurate voter list in the country. Voting rights advocates, including the ACLU of Georgia, criticize the purge as a potential disenfranchisement of eligible voters, particularly those who are more mobile such as renters and younger populations. Raffensperger defends the process as compliant with federal and state law and essential for clean, fair elections, emphasizing continued improvements such as adding address verification tools. The removal represents about 6% of Georgia's 8.4 million registered voters and is slightly smaller than a previous removal of over 500,000 voters in 2017.