Eligibility challenged for hundreds of Cobb County, GA voters - Axios AtlantaLog InLog InAxios Atlanta is an Axios company.

Eligibility challenged for hundreds of Cobb voters

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios The eligibility of nearly 600 Cobb County voters is being challenged amid allegations that they have invalid mailing addresses. Why it matters: This is the latest example of large-scale voter challenges that have occurredsince went into effect. The law, among other things, specified people could challenge the registration status of an unlimited number of voters.Challenges to thousands of voters in and counties have already been tossed, according to the AJC.The Gwinnett challenge was filed by residents and advocacy group VoterGA, which believes fraud occurred in the 2020 election, the AJC reported Tuesday. Driving the news: The challenge, submitted by a resident last month to Cobb Elections and Registration Director Janine Eveler, alleges 586 voters are ineligible because their mailing addresses do not contain apartment numbers. What's happening: Eveler told Axios that the county is consulting with its legal team on how it should proceed with the latest challenge.About 2,000 Cobb voters have been challenged since S.B. 202 was last year, she said.The county has about 500,000 registered voters, Eveler told Axios. State of play: The ACLU of Georgia yesterday sent a to the Cobb Board of Elections asking that it reject the challenge, "which fit a trend of third-party groups trying to disenfranchise thousands of voters in the immediate lead-up to an election." What they're saying: Helen Butler, the executive director of the, a nonprofit organization that specializes in civic engagement work, told Axios these challenges take time away from officials who need to prepare for the upcoming election.She also said the mass challenges work to intimidate voters because some are being asked to do what others aren’t required to do in order to vote."It's just creating confusion," she said. "A lot of voters don't know what to do when they get these types of letters. A lot of people can't get off work during the time they expect the hearings." Context: Once a reliable Republican stronghold, Cobb County turned blue in 2016 when a majority of voters backed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.Since then, countywide partisan elected positions like sheriff, district attorney and commission chair have flipped from Republican to Democrat. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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