Georgia’s Democrats have registered more than 85,000 minority voters (and counting)... !!!!!

[babylonsister]

Running Scared

Georgia’s Democrats have registered more than 85,000 minority voters (and counting). Republicans never saw it coming.
By Jamelle Bouie


Photo by Stephen Morton/Getty Images
Board of Elections Customer Service Supervisor Sabrina German hands out absentee ballots during early voting on Oct. 23, 2008, in Savannah, Georgia. If more minorities register and vote, Georgia could be a red state no more.


In 2008, under the best possible conditions for a Democrat, Barack Obama lost Georgia by just over 200,000 votes, or 5.2 percent of Georgians who voted. Four years later he lost again by just over 300,000 votes, or 7.8 percent of Georgians who voted. By any measure the state is a reach for Democrats. And yet, the party is optimistic, both now—Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter, its Senate and gubernatorial candidates, respectively, are running close races—and for the future.

The “why” is easy to answer: Georgia has roughly 700,000 unregistered black voters. If Democrats could cut that number by less than a third—and bring nearly 200,000 likely Democrats to the polls—they would turn a red state purple, and land a major blow to the national Republican Party. Or, as Michelle Obama said during a campaign rally on Monday, “If just 50 Democratic voters per precinct who didn’t vote in 2010 get out and vote this November—just 50 per precinct—then Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter will win.” Given 2,727 precincts in Georgia, that’s just 136,350 new voters.

Enter the New Georgia Project. Led by Stacey Abrams, Democratic leader in the state House of Representatives, the project is meant to do just that—register hundreds of thousands of blacks and other minorities. Their goal, says Abrams, is to “directly or indirectly collect 120,000 voter registration applications.” That could be enough to push Democrats over the top. And it makes the project one of the largest voter registration drives in recent Georgia history.

So far, it’s been a success. “In addition to the 85,000 we have collected as an organization directly,” says Abrams, “we have also supported the efforts of 12 organizations around the state. We know there are groups doing registration in the Latino community, in the Asian community, and in the youth community, and we wanted to support their efforts as well.” These groups, she says, have collected 20,000 to 25,000 applications, putting the New Georgia Project in striking distance of its goal two months before Election Day.

Which brings us to this week. On Tuesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp—a Republican—said his office was investigating allegations of voter fraud from the New Georgia Project, following complaints about voter applications submitted by the group. To that end, Kemp has issued subpoenas to the group and its parent organization, Third Sector Development.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed significant illegal activities’ including forged voter registration applications, forged signatures on releases, and applications with false or inaccurate information,” he wrote in a memo to county election officials.

Six years ago, a “purple” Georgia was a pipe dream. Now, it’s a possibility.

more...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/09/stacey_abrams_new_georgia_project_shocks_georgia_s_gop_republicans_fighting.html

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gothmog]

2. This is great news

[Dustlawyer]

18. Hey friend, do you know where we stand in registering Minorities at this point?

We have Obama's network/teams plus all of the attention Wendy is getting. I would think that Texas will be a lot less red after the midterms.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[napi21]

4. Don't forget about registering whites too!

Most are students or relocated from somewhere else, but we need to go after them too. I'm white, moved from Pa. to several diff. states in the south and finally ended up in Ga. It really aggravates me that there are so many uninformed people all around me (every neighbor!). I won't get into a fight with them, but I always throw in a rational statement to give them something to think about after their rant against Obama. I'm always responding to LTTE's in our local paper in hopes it will wake up at least a few readers.

I feel positive about this year's election. The locals still love Jimmy Carter, and his grandson is running for Governor against a very unpopular incumbent. They also love the late Sam Nunn and his daughter is running for the Senate and she also got Zell Miller to make a TV ad for her, and as crazy as old Zell is, people here still love him. He's responsible for the Hope Scholarship that have helped thousands of Georgians go to school and continues to do so.

On the few occasions that I run into a Democrat or MAYBE even a rational Repug, I always remind them to mae sure they & all their friends VOTE!

[Anansi1171]

17. Well said!

[BlueCaliDem]

5. This is wonderful news! Hope that Repub PoS SoS doesn't purge legitimate applications.

Because that's what he's fixin' to do.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. What kind of Dem candidates are runnig in Georgia?

Whatever they're doing, Florida Democrats need to take notice. It's not just about raising the vote count for Democrats. It's also about providing compelling candidates for minority voters.

[babylonsister]

7. We have two potential stars:

Michelle Nunn is running for the Senate (daughter of Sam Nunn) and Jason Carter (grandson of Prez. Carter) is running to replace guv. nathan "done" deal, a proven crook.

There are some really awful republicans here, so that could be inspiring for some potential voters.

[Dawgs]

8. Georgia still has a way to go before we should call it purple.

I think the only way Nunn and/or Carter win is higher expected voting from the Demcratic base, along with smaller turnout from the discouraged right.

[babylonsister]

9. And that's why this voter registration is so important! nt

[Dawgs]

11. Of course. But, that has nothing to do with my comment on Georgia going purple. n/t

[MineralMan]

10. Yes!!!

Newly-registered voters almost always show up at the polls. Great news!

[groundloop]

30. Unless they have to wait in line for many hours.....

Which is what I expect will happen. Voting machines in minority/Democratic districts will be taken out of service, early voting will be limited, and voters will be intimidated at polling places by True the Vote and other right wing thugs.

[MineralMan]

31. Actually, that's not necessarily true at all. I remember seeing people

waiting in long lines in 2008 and 2012. They waited. They voted.

Early voting is already underway in Georgia. I think you're incorrect.

[deurbano]

12. Great news! Good work, New Georgia Project!

[C Moon]

13. "Where did that come from???"

[freshwest]

35. So said Brillo on election night 2012. They thought they had it in the bag.

[blur256]

14. This is awesome!

[Historic NY]

15. Keep it up....

[Cali_Democrat]

16. Nice! GOPers hate it when minorities vote....especially blacks. nt

[Fred Sanders]

19. So the GOP coneheads cry "fraud" again with no evidence, just Fox News supplied talking points to

cover for their clear voter suppression efforts.

What kind of patriot tries to suppress that which so many have died for?

[LiberalAndProud]

20. Brian Kemp is a partisan hack.

Just saying.

[CottonBear]

39. I knew Kemp when he was a property developer in my city.

I am not at all surprised by his words and actions as SOS of GA.

I am working to GOTV here in. GA.

A Blue Georgia is within our reach!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. As MLK said, "Give us the ballot".

[Iliyah]

22. K & R

well gopers have said that 'uneducated people should not have the right to vote"

[silverweb]

26. And they follow through.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]They do their damnedest to make sure that minorities and the poor have restricted, low-quality, bare-bones literacy education so that they "qualify" as uneducated/undereducated.

[Jack Rabbit]

23. Excellent

This is the fundamental way to struggle against racist voter suppression.

In all states with racist voter ID laws, the strategy should be:

• Register as many people to vote as possible;
• Do something to get as many of the new voters a valid ID that will allow them to cast a ballot; and
• Get them to the polling place and invite the TV cameras.

If these people are going to be turned away, we'll make a spectacle of it. By election day, the whole country should know that voter ID laws have nothing to do with fixing the almost nonexistent problem of voter fraud, but is nothing more of less than racist voter suppression.

[FlatStanley]

24. But will they get the chance to CAST that vote? I sure hope so!

[madashelltoo]

25. I am not laughing.

How dare they?

[Politicalboi]

27. Too many votes, too many votes

[Xyzse]

28. That is very good to hear.

[bobGandolf]

29. Kick Ass!

Way to go Georgia Dems!

[oldandhappy]

32. Congratulations. Great news.

Sending purple best wishes.

[WillyT]

33. K & R !!!

[Uncle Joe]

34. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

[Cha]

36. #50! YAY!!! Georgia DEMS.. Mahalo babylonsistah~

[lovemydog]

37. That's great news.

Keep up the excellent work, democrats in Georgia!

[raven mad]

38. Way to go, GEORGIA!! Rock the vote!

Sincere best wishes from the mostly frozen state!

[Enthusiast]

40. Kicked and recommended! I hope the minority voters

can manage to vote without organized intimidation or other barriers. It has happened before.

[mariawr]

41. Kicked and Rec'd. nt

[DFW]

42. Senator Michelle Nunn

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...............

Come to think of it, that little engine that could in the children's book WAS blue.............

[McCamy Taylor]

43. GOP should have seen it coming. Should have taken the Medicaid expansion.

People can see when they are deprived of billions of federal dollars. That is very easy to understand.