Category Archives: voting rights

State of Georgia, NAACP/CCGA Swap Motions in Voter Purge Case

NAACP lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA — A class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 in U.S. District Court alleges that Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp has continuously defied the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by continuing to enforce sections within the Georgia Election Code when they have been condemned by the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ).   Common Cause Georgia […]

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State Rep. Scott Seeks Automatic Voter Registration in Georgia

sandra scott

(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Sandra Scott (D-Rex) has introduced legislation calling for automatic voter registration in the State of Georgia, following in the footsteps of the State of Oregon and the State of California, which adopted similar measures in 2015.   It is a hard sell in a state that has been ground zero for voter suppression–Georgia pioneered stricter […]

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People’s Agenda Hosts Discussion on Fulton Voter Disenfranchisement

gpca voting meeting

(APN) ATLANTA — Fulton County will pay a fine of 180 dollars for breaking over two dozen state voting laws and illegally disenfranchising and misleading voters in the 2008 and 2012 elections.   The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda convened on Tuesday, September 01, 2015, to address these past violations and the implications for future elections.   Some of […]

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Common Cause Turnover in Georgia driven by Refocus on Voting Rights (UPDATE 1)

william perry

(APN) ATLANTA — On August 11, 2015 Common Cause announced the resignation of its Georgia chapter director, William Perry.   Perry helmed the state chapter for over four years, serving as a vigilant government watchdog on issues of ethics, transparency, public spending, and money-in-politics.  His efforts were directed large at the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia.   […]

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Congress Stalls on Restoring Full Voting Rights Act, as Atlantans Mark Act’s 50 Years

VRA

Photograph courtesy of Joyce Dorsey.   (APN) ATLANTA — August 06, 2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the day the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.   However, as Atlanta advocates gathered at Wheat Street Baptist Church to commemorate, it was not solely a celebratory occasion, given that the Supreme Court of […]

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GALEO Challenges At-Large Voting in City of Gainesville

gainesville

(APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) is campaigning against the City of Gainesville’s current at-large voting process, which they argue violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting the Latino vote.   Gainesville has five city council wards, another word for districts.  However, unlike districts in Atlanta, Fulton County, and DeKalb […]

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KKK Flyers Distributed, Man Arrested during Selma 50th Anniversary

KKK flyer

Photograph of crowd by Gloria Tatum; photograph of flyer courtesy of Junia Joseph. (APN) SELMA, Alabama — During the March 07 and 08, 2015 weekend events commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, where President Barack Obama and other dignitaries honored the sacrifices of civil rights leaders, a hateful force was emerging again in the back streets […]

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Georgia Presidential Ballot Access Case Returns to District Court

(APN) ATLANTA — A lawsuit brought by the Green Party of Georgia and the Constitution Party of Georgia challenging the State of Georgia’s ballot access requirements is back in federal court, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.     The lawsuit challenges the statewide petition requirement that requires one percent of the signatures of the registered voters across the State, in […]

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(IPS) Activists Converge on High Court for Challenge to Voting Rights Act

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/activists-converge-on-high-court-for-challenge-to-voting-rights/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Feb 26 2013 (IPS) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a challenge to the constitutionality of key sections of the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965.  Numerous organisations are rallying in support of the VRA. Activists across the nation, including Dr. Charles Steele, CEO […]

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Norwood Nominated to Fulton County Elections Board

(APN) ATLANTA — Former Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood (Post 2-at-large), who narrowly lost the 2009 Mayoral race to Kasim Reed, has been nominated by the Fulton County Republican Party to serve on the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections. In a letter to Mark Massey, Clerk for the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County, dated today, Friday, January […]

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(IPS) Voter Suppression Tactics Likely to Affect US Elections

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/11/voter-suppression-tactics-likely-to-affect-u-s-election/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Nov 5 2012 (IPS) – Voter suppression has reached new heights in the United States, analysts and experts say, as elected state officials have increasingly resorted to a new and growing generation of voter suppression tactics. Whether these tactics will tip the outcome of the presidential race […]

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US Rep. Lewis Response to APN Questionnaire

(APN) ATLANTA — As part of our coverage of the upcoming July 31, 2012, Partisan Primary and Non-partisan General Election, Atlanta Progressive News requested interviews with incumbent US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Michael Johnson, the two candidates for the Democratic nomination for Georgia’s 5th US Congressional District.   Johnson participated in an interview; his positions will be summarized again […]

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Black Leaders Mobilize to Help the Quitman Ten

  (APN) ATLANTA — Black leaders and elected officials held a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, January 23, 2012, to discuss their concern regarding the Quitman Ten, a group of Black elected officials and voters from Quitman, Georgia, who are facing questionable indictments for voter fraud. Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia is a small town of approximate […]

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NAACP, GCPA Sue Georgia for Neglecting Low-Income Voter Registration

  A lawsuit was filed on June 6, 2011 in federal court  to force Georgia’s state public assistance offices to comply with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) that requires all public assistance offices to offer voter registration forms to people seeking public assistance. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP (Georgia NAACP) […]

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Rev. Lowery Sues over North Fulton Cities, Claims Black Vote Dilution

This article first appeared on The Beacon website at: http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/news/-Rev-Lowery-Sues-over-North-Fulton-Cities-Claims-Black-Vote-Dilution-2887 (APN) ATLANTA — Rev. Joseph Lowery, one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil Rights Movement who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, has joined with the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and several Black residents of North Fulton and Dekalb Counties, to challenge what has been the creation of […]

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