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Stacey Abrams, Georgia’s Democratic candidate for governor, decried a state law requiring state ID forms and voter registration forms to be exact matches before people will be allowed to vote. A report issued by the Associated Press found that as a result of the law, Georgia’s Secretary of State and Republican candidate for governor Brian Kemp has place on hold 53,000 voter registrants, 70% of which are from African Americans.
Abrams said that the “exact match” voter ID law is part and parcel of a total system that is designed to “scare people out of voting.”
“This is simply a redux of a failed system that is designed to both scare people out of voting and make it harder for those who are willing to push through, make it harder for them to vote,” Abrams said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Georgia branch of the NAACP said it will sue Secretary Kemp if his office does not free up the registrations and permit those citizens to vote. Abrams accused her Republican opponent of purposefully obstructing the votes of the voters who will most likely vote for her.
“Voting should not be a question of trust on the part of voters, whether they can trust the system,” she said. “And, right now, he is eroding the public trust in the system because 53,000 people have been told, you may be able to vote, you may not, it’s up to you to prove it.”
“The miasma of fear that is created through voter suppression is as much about terrifying people about trying to vote as it is about actually blocking their ability to do so,” she added.
Despite the “exact match” law, Abrams still believes the coming November election will be conducted fairly.
“My organization, working with the Democratic Party, we’ve put together the largest voter protection effort in the state’s history,” she said. “And we have national organizations that are also paying attention. And I think we can make this work.”
Kemp’s office responded by noting a statement it made in July denying it is now harder for people to vote.
“Despite any claim to the contrary, it has never been easier to register to vote in Georgia and actively engage in the electoral process,” Kemp said in that July statement. “The numbers do not lie.”