The story surrounding the subpoena issued to State Rep. Stacey Abrams’ ‘New Voter Project’ has slowed down over the past couple of weeks as the races for U.S. Senate and Governor have heated up. That may change though, as the six incident reports from before September 9th, (the date on which Secretary of State Brian Kemp issued the subpoena) have been made public. Of the six, only one report had anything to do with the New Voter Project, a complaint from the Butts County Elections Director stating that, “individuals were canvassing voters and telling voters they were required to reregister to vote. Wanted people and parolees were allegedly participating in the registration drive”.
So when the Secretary of State’s website states that, “Each and every complaint regarding The New Georgia Project originated at the county level. At no time did the Investigations Division within the Office of the Secretary of State seek out any information without the specific request of a county. These complaints were investigated in the same manner that any and all complaints received by this Office have been handled in the past” it’s talking about one single complaint, not numerous ones as the quote implies.
You can be sure that this story isn’t over, expect the cries of ‘voter suppression’ to pick back up in November.
A Different Minority Voter Focus
At last count, Stacey Abrams’ ‘New Voter Project’ claimed to have registered some 85,000 new minority voters, a number which would go a long way toward the Democrats’ goal of turning Georgia blue, (or at least purple) in 2014. It remains to be seen exactly what the African American turnout will actually be, as the number has never been able to reach presidential-year totals during a midterm election.
The New Voter Project is not the only group working to register new voters, though. Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a group dedicated to, well, you can probably guess from the name, has a stated goal of registering 10,000 Korean American voters in Gwinnett County. An ambitious total, to be sure, but one that would go a long way toward raising the political awareness and activity of the Asian American community here in Georgia.
At only 3.7% of the state’s population, the Asian vote has not exactly been a point of emphasis even for groups like Stacey Abrams’ who are desperately searching for more voters under every stone. The efforts of groups like the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, whose main goal in Gwinnett is to secure Korean-language ballots, (which the county must provide once 10,000 Korean voters are registered) are the foundation for what promises to be a long term movement to turn out the Asian community in Georgia.
Indeed there are already several Asian-Americans holding office in the state, including State Representative B.J. Pak of Lilburn (R), and Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan. Eugene Yu (R) recently came in second in the Republican Primary in Georgia’s 12th Congressional District to Rick Allen after bowing out of the Senate race.
It’s true that you won’t be reading stories about the Asian vote being the key to this election, even if and when minority voter turnout becomes key in analyzing the results of the races. However as the Asian American community grows here in Georgia and the margins of victory in elections continue to shrink across the board, you can expect the issue to be addressed by both parties in the future.
