SR 563: Georgia Secretary of State; request of the United States Department of Justice to securely produce Georgia's voter registration list; urge

Senate Resolution 563

By: Senators Robertson of the 29th, Anavitarte of the 31st, Brass of the 6th, Bearden of the 30th and Watson of the 11th

ADOPTED SENATE

A RESOLUTION

Urging the Georgia Secretary of State to immediately and fully comply with the request of the United States Department of Justice to securely produce Georgia's voter registration list, in compliance with Georgia's obligations under the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in an effort to ensure that all 50 states and other jurisdictions have effective and secure voter registration and voter list maintenance programs, both of which are critical to ensuring fair and secure elections for local, state, and federal offices; and

WHEREAS, NVRA requires states, including Georgia, to "conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters" by reason of death or change in residence; and

WHEREAS, subject to limited exceptions, NVRA also requires states, including Georgia, to maintain "all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters"; and

WHEREAS, HAVA requires states, including Georgia, to maintain and administer "a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list" that contains "the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State and assigns a unique identifier to each legally registered voter in the State"; and

WHEREAS, HAVA prohibits states, including Georgia, from processing voter registration applications without obtaining and verifying identifying information from applicants for registration, including, when available, a driver's license number, the last four digits of the applicant's social security number, or, in the absence of such information, a unique identifier; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice is charged with the enforcement of these laws; and

WHEREAS, on March 25, 2025, the President of the United States issued an executive order entitled, "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections"; and

WHEREAS, the executive order, among other actions, directed the Attorney General of the United States to ensure states' compliance with NVRA and HAVA and to "take appropriate action with respect to States that fail to comply with the list maintenance requirements of" NVRA and HAVA; and

WHEREAS, the Attorney General of the United States has since stated that "[a]ccurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance"; and

WHEREAS, this past summer, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice requested that numerous states, including Georgia, securely provide the Department with a full voter registration list in order to ensure that the state is meeting its responsibilities under NVRA and HAVA; and

WHEREAS, Georgia's Secretary of State has refused to comply with multiple requests for this information in full; and

WHEREAS, as a result of the Secretary's refusals, the Department of Justice recently filed suit against the Secretary in federal court under NVRA, HAVA, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 seeking to compel secure production of Georgia's full voter registration list; and

WHEREAS, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee have voluntarily agreed to provide their full registration lists to the Department of Justice, while the Georgia Secretary of State has joined chief elections officers in jurisdictions such as Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, and the District of Columbia in refusing to comply with the Department's request; and

WHEREAS, these actions by the Secretary and his like-minded counterparts in other jurisdictions are obstructing the efforts of the Attorney General of the United States to carry out the directives of the President's March, 2025, executive order relating to election integrity; and

WHEREAS, the Secretary's refusal to comply with the Department of Justice's request is the latest example of a pattern of behavior by the Secretary and his office to refuse oversight of his administration of Georgia's elections, which includes his refusal on numerous occasions to personally appear before the Senate Ethics Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee and his and his office's willful and persistent obstruction of the Georgia State Election Board in its efforts to ensure that Georgia's elections are secure and that Georgia's election integrity laws are properly administered and enforced.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the Secretary of State is urged to immediately and fully comply with the request of the United States Department of Justice to securely produce Georgia's voter registration list, in compliance with Georgia's obligations under the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the Secretary of State, the members of the State Election Board, the President of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States, and the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.