December 4, 2020
The Honorable William Barr
Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Attorney General Barr,
Two pillars of a successful republic are election integrity and confidence in our democratic processes. As Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger revealed Monday, his office is investigating multiple organizations attempting to register illegal and invalid voters in Georgia. [1] As the Georgia Secretary of State’s office lacks prosecutorial power, we ask that the Department of Justice simultaneously investigate and prosecute this illegal behavior under federal law. Additionally, we ask that you use your authority as Attorney General to issue a preliminary order preventing any organization from registering illegal and invalid voters in the upcoming January 5th Georgia U.S. Senate Runoff Elections.
By way of background, these organizations stand accused of registering a deceased Alabama voter, encouraging illegal voting by out of state residents, as well as knowingly sending Georgia voter registration applications out of state - as far as New York.[2] Allegedly, Operation New Voter Registration Georgia encouraged college students to temporarily change their residency so that they could vote in the runoff election,[3] which is illegal under multiple federal statutes. See 252 U.S.C. § 10307(c) & 18 U.S.C. § 371. Reportedly, Vote Forward attempted to register a dead voter,[4] which is also illegal under federal statute. See 52 U.S.C. §§ 10307(c), 10307(e), 20511(2). America Votes and the New Georgia Project, founded by Stacey Abrams, both are accused of sending voter registration application to invalid addresses.[5]
Federal law gives the Attorney General the authority to issue preliminary relief when there are reasonable grounds to believe that any person is about to engage in any election offense. See 52 USC § 10308(d). [6] We strongly urge you to use your authority as Attorney General to issue a restraining order or temporary injunction preventing organizations from registering illegal and invalid voters in the upcoming election. Swift action is needed to ensure that illegal votes do not dilute the rights of legal voters.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.