Georgia Democrats, Voters Sue Officials Over Prohibitively Long Poll Lines

The Democratic Party of Georgia, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and three Georgia residents have challenged state election officials over the long lines facing many Georgia voters.

Allegedly, these long lines posed a prohibitive barrier during the June primaries for the 2020 election, and now further threaten voter participation in the upcoming November 2020 election, according to the Star Tribune.

The three voters who joined Democratic organizations in filing the Georgia voter lines lawsuit were Lucile Anderson, Sara Alami and Gianella Contreras Chavez.

They explain that they are all registered voters who made serious efforts to vote in their state’s primary, both during early voting and on Election Day.

Allegedly, they were met with hours-long lines and blistering summer heat. One woman was not able to vote at all. Another woman had to wait six hours before voting, and the third woman explains that she had to miss a day of work just to vote.

According to Anderson, Alami and Contreras Chavez, these conditions affected not only them, but thousands of other Georgia voters attempting to participate in the electoral process, FOX5 Atlanta reported.

In particular, the three voters explain these conditions particularly disenfranchise Black, Hispanic, Latinx and young voters, further disenfranchising them from the political process. They call these long lines a “severe burden[]” on voters’ constitutionally given right to vote. 

The Democratic Party of Georgia has joined these voters in asking a judge to change Georgia’s election conditions, saying the party relies on votes from Black, Hispanic, Latinx and young voters, and disenfranchising these crucial voters will make it harder, if not impossible, for the party and its candidates to win during the November election. 

Similarly, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) says the disenfranchisement of voters through long polling lines will damage their efforts to elect Democratic candidates to the Senate.

The DSCC explains that because of the long lines, the committee “will have to divert funds and resources for voter turnout efforts in Georgia at the expense of its other activities,” such as polling.

Now, the Democratic Party, the DSCC and the three voters have filed their Georgia 2020 election lawsuit to point the finger at election officials, saying they have failed to effectively administer elections over not just this year, but years in the past.

The voters note that though in 74% of elections around the country voters wait in no lines at all or only face short lines, Georgia voters consistently have to wait hours to exercise this constitutional right. 

The Georgia democratic voting lawsuit points to a number of facets of this problem.

The voters start by alleging that the officials have consolidated polling stations, meaning voters have fewer places in which they can vote, leading to longer lines. 

On top of this problem, the officials have failed to provide adequate and functional election equipment, and failed to sufficiently train poll workers to use the equipment.

Allegedly, problems with the equipment, and poll workers’ lack of ability to address it, has further slowed down lines. To make matters worse, the officials have not even provided emergency equipment like paper ballots for voters to use when the polling equipment ceases to function, the Georgia voting lawsuit says. 

Providing background to the significance of the problem, the Georgia voting lines lawsuit explains that Georgia has a long history of discriminating against racial minorities.

As an attempt to prevent the continued disenfranchisement of voters in the state, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required Georgia to “preclear” changes to voting processes in advance of elections. 

However, the state has still closed many polling places, which has had the effect of disenfranchising voters nonetheless, the plaintiffs say.

They note that reduction in polling places has occurred even though the state’s population has grown, particularly in the Atlanta area.

Allegedly, the areas that have experienced poll consolidation are those that have seen population growth.

How is your state preparing for the 2020 election? Share your experiences in the comments below.

The voters, the Democratic Party and the DSCC are represented by Adam M. Sparks of Krevolin & Horst LLC; Marc E. Elias, Amanda R. Callais, Jacki L. Anderson and Tre Holloway of Perkins Coie LLP; and Kevin J. Hamilton, Amanda J. Beane, Health Hyatt, Marcus Haggard and Molly Mitchell of Perkins Coie LLP.

The Georgia Voters 2020 Election Lines Lawsuit is Lucille Anderson, et al. v. Brad Raffensberger, in his official capacity as the Georgia Secretary of State and the Chair of the Georgia State Election Board, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-03263-MLB, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

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