Georgia Republicans seek to stop automatic voter registration in state

ATLANTA — Georgia’s automatic voter registration has put almost all eligible citizens on the rolls, but some Republicans want to turn the system off.

The Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday voted to advance Senate Bill 221, which would require people to opt in to voter registration when they receive or renew a driver’s license. Currently, they’re automatically registered unless they opt out.

The bill also makes it easier for voters to be challenged based on where they live, clearing the way for Republican activists who see the state’s voting lists as bloated and fraudulent to knock thousands of additional voters off the rolls.

The measure is moving forward as Georgia is expected to be a competitive state in the presidential election and as GOP activists continue to support Donald Trump’s discredited claims his 2020 Georgia loss stemmed from fraud.

A 2023 study by the Center for Election Innovation and Research found the share of active registered voters rose to 98% of the population in 2020, from 78% in 2016, when the state began registering people at driver license offices. The share dropped to 92% in 2022, which the center characterized as normal for a non-election year.

Republicans argue the system results in too much extra work for officials.

“The intent is ... not to reduce voter registration, (but) to ... make voter registration more accurate,” said Senate Ethics Committee Chair Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican.

Some Republicans also said they thought people should have to affirmatively ask to register to vote, suggesting that it’s not in the state’s interest to register young people who aren’t interested.

“Are we ... trying to get a lot of people on the rolls and ... years later we’re purging all of them because 90% never went to vote?” asked Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, a Dahlonega Republican.

But officials warned the move would make Georgia’s voting rolls less accurate, because it would reduce verified information flowing to the secretary of state’s office. State Elections Director Blake Evans said before automatic registration, 11% of registrations were flagged for problems based on information they might have moved, versus only 4% after.

“We would see more people voting in the wrong precincts and ... for the wrong candidates because we would not get that information so consistently,” Evans said.