Protecting Military and Overseas Voters from Frivolous Mass Challenges in Georgia (Secure Families Initiative v. Raffensperger)

A new Georgia law, S.B. 189, threatens to prevent Americans living and serving overseas from making their voice heard in Georgia elections by making it more difficult for counties to dismiss unsubstantiated and incorrect challenges to an American’s voter registration or their eligibility to vote.  

Ultimately, S.B. 189 makes it easier for bad actors to deny Americans their freedom to vote, without evidence, using mass challenges.  

Some states, including Georgia, allow a registered voter to challenge a fellow American’s voter registration or eligibility to vote. In recent years, these laws have been abused by bad actors who bring hundreds of thousands of unproven challenges. These mass challenges are often filled with errors and largely dismissed.

Mass challenge laws have long been used in this country to target recently naturalized citizens, voters of color, student voters, and voters with disabilities. S.B. 189 puts voters that have temporarily moved or are temporarily without permanent residential addresses -- such as military members deployed overseas -- at risk of being wrongly challenged.

CLC represents Secure Families Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of military members and their families, in the lawsuit, which argues that S.B. 189 violates federal law and infringes on military and overseas voters’ fundamental freedom to vote.

What’s at Stake

Military and overseas voters already face more barriers than the average American in exercising their freedom to vote. Miliary and overseas voters move frequently, but even when out of state retain their residence and their freedom to vote. However, it can be difficult for military members to make their voices heard at times because these voters are overseas.

For example, military and overseas voters often have to request an absentee ballot because they can’t vote in-person. Living abroad could also mean mail times are less reliable, and they don’t have the benefit of drop boxes.

S.B. 189 makes it even harder for military and overseas voters to make their voice heard by making it easier to challenge an American’s freedom to vote while they are serving or living outside Georgia.  Brave service members, their families and other Americans abroad should have the same opportunity to vote as any other American. Not only do mass challenges put Americans’ freedom to vote in jeopardy, they also overwhelm election officials during a busy election season.

Military and overseas voters deserve to have their voices heard in our elections just as all other American citizens do.  Our democracy works best when every voter can participate, but S.B. 189 runs contrary to that goal. We hope the court will step in to ensure that every American has an equal opportunity to make their voice heard this November.