Voting Rights Watch: Computer error blamed for high number of Georgia voter registration checks
Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel is reporting that a computer programming glitch is responsible for the high number of voter registration checks Georgia ran this year through the Social Security Administration.
Georgia had sent 2 million voter registration verification requests through the Social Security Administration in the past year, more than any other state. But Handel said that her office actually sent 747,106 checks, and that the Georgia Department of Drivers Services, however, resent many requests that resulted in duplicates and the high 2 million number, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Yet, the 747,106 checks that were sent to the Social Security Administration from Georgia would still be the second-most in the nation, and about 10 percent of the national total, according to data from the Social Security Administration. Only Alabama, with 1.04 million checks, sent more
As Facing South has previously reported, Georgia has been in the spotlight since the Social Security Administration issued a high-profile letter to six states earlier this month -- including Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina -- questioning the "extraordinarily high" number of requests to match newly-registered voters with Social Security information. As we reported, under federal law, the checks are intended to be used for verifying new voter registrations, yet only 406,000 new voters have signed up in Georgia this year. The 747,106 number still seems disproportionally high considering the number of new voter registrations.
Georgia had sent 2 million voter registration verification requests through the Social Security Administration in the past year, more than any other state. But Handel said that her office actually sent 747,106 checks, and that the Georgia Department of Drivers Services, however, resent many requests that resulted in duplicates and the high 2 million number, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Yet, the 747,106 checks that were sent to the Social Security Administration from Georgia would still be the second-most in the nation, and about 10 percent of the national total, according to data from the Social Security Administration. Only Alabama, with 1.04 million checks, sent more
As Facing South has previously reported, Georgia has been in the spotlight since the Social Security Administration issued a high-profile letter to six states earlier this month -- including Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina -- questioning the "extraordinarily high" number of requests to match newly-registered voters with Social Security information. As we reported, under federal law, the checks are intended to be used for verifying new voter registrations, yet only 406,000 new voters have signed up in Georgia this year. The 747,106 number still seems disproportionally high considering the number of new voter registrations.
