Atlanta Team Helps Stop Illegal Purge of 14,346 Voters before General Election

A BCLP team in Atlanta partnered with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to file an emergency motion to intervene on behalf of the Georgia NAACP and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda to stop a lawsuit demanding the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections hold challenge hearings and then purge 14,346 voters from the county rolls just weeks before the Nov. 3 general election. 

The team also filed a motion to dismiss the action, which argued, in part, that this was an illegal attempt to circumvent the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) that secures citizens’ right to vote. Both of the nonprofit clients are engaged in large voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts throughout Georgia and Fulton County. The demanded purge of the voter rolls would have adversely affected their efforts to encourage voter participation. Following a hearing on Sept. 28, the court denied the petition in full, specifically noting that the NVRA prevents the purge of these voters within 90 days of a federal election.

BCLP has previously partnered with the Lawyers’ Committee on other pro bono matters, which include making a successful challenge to the discriminatory purge of voters from the rolls in Hancock County, Ga. in 2018, and in obtaining an order extending the voter registration deadline following government shutdowns for a hurricane in Chatham County, Ga., before the 2016 general election.

The team for this matter includes Atlanta Partners Bill Custer and Jen Dempsey, Atlanta/Los Angeles Associate Christian Bromley, Atlanta Associate Leah Schultz and Atlanta Paralegal Stephanie Roberts, with assistance from Leanne Middleton. Custer currently serves on the board of directors of the Lawyers’ Committee.

Click to read more about this matter from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.