Rock the Vote Blog: GA Southern students threatened when trying to vote

Originally posted on the National Campaign for Fair Elections blog, written by Jonah Goldman, staff attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law

For the past two weeks the students of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro have been the victims of challenges to their registration, threats, intimidation, and have faced police officers stationed outside and inside early polling places all because they had the nerve to want to vote in local elections. While the nation has been focusing its attention on the 2008 elections, the National Campaign for Fair Elections and the Lawyers’ Committee has been hard at work this year protecting the rights of voters, most recently the students in Statesboro, Georgia.

Lawyers’ Committee Board Member and Georgia Election Protection legal leader, Charles Lester, is working on behalf of the students to try and stop the intimidation and ensure every student who was properly registered is able to vote and have that vote counted. However, the situation in Statesboro is a clear example of why the Senate needs to act NOW and pass the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act. If you haven’t done so already, please sign our petition to the Senate.

Public statements made by the challengers have clearly exposed their motive - to prevent the students from voting through intimidation. Incumbent council member, John Morris, attempted to take out an ad in the Statesboro Connect warning students that by registering to vote, they’d risk losing their financial aid and their parents could no longer list them as dependents on their tax returns. Neither part of Council member Morris’ "public service announcement" is true. Morris also expressed his concern for the students when he was quoted in a Statesboro Herald story saying:

"I want everyone who votes to be a legal resident and I want to make sure that these students aren’t getting into some type of trouble," said Morris. "I want to make sure they’re doing the right thing and not doing anything that would get them in trouble later."

Actions by Morris, and the automated phone calls reportedly received by students telling them don’t bother voting because it won’t count, would be illegal if the Senate passes the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act. Please sign our petition if you haven’t already by clicking here.

In addition to these statements, the National Campaign has received several disturbing reports this week during the early voting period:

Students intimidated by uniformed police officers stationed in and around the polling place.
One police officer told a student he’d face police action if he did not update his ID to reflect his residency in Bulloch County.
Another police officer harassed a female student by demanding she show where she lived on a map of the voting district and attempted to prevent her from voting even through she grew up in the area and attended Statesboro public schools.

The situation began in early September when GSU students began voter registration drives. The drives were extremely successful, registering over 1,000 students in one month. Apparently some residents of Statesboro weren’t so excited about the students’ success and took action into their own hands. A group called the Statesboro Citizens for Good Government filed a blanket challenge of 909 newly registered student voters challenging them on the basis of residency requirements.

It appears that our advocacy and that of other concerned citizens and groups is starting to pay off. Today, the Statesboro Herald published an editorial asking the challengers to withdraw their complaints because:

While we respect the right of the four citizens to present their complaints as allowed by law, we think the unprecedented protesting of the fundamental right to vote of so many people is reckless. We believe the students do have a right to vote for whatever reason they choose. Why somebody registers or why he or she votes must never be a reason to deny their franchise.

The National Campaign for Fair Elections and the Lawyers’ Committee will continue to fight for the right to vote, free of intimidation, for students of Georgia Southern University. While the treatment of these students is appalling, it’s unfortunately all too common. As the 2008 election season rapidly approaches we will continue to ramp up our Election Protection activities to protect students in Statesboro’s all across the country. If you would like to volunteer for Election Protection please click here. In the meantime, we will continue to push for pro-voter election reform initiatives at the federal and local level. Please spread the word about the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Act and get as many people to sign our petition as possible.

Read our press release.

Read Charles Lester’s letters to the Statesboro City Attorney and Bulloch County Registrar of Voters.

Index of Articles:

New group aims to register student voters, Statesboro Herald, 9/4/07

Voter sign-ups prove effective, Statesboro Herald, 10/3/07

Student voter registrations challenged, Statesboro Herald, 10/23/07

Citizens group challenges highest number of voter registrations in state history, Statesboro Herald, 10/24/07

Voter registration rumors clarified, Statesboro Herald, 10/25/07

GSU Dean of Students: ‘They really just want their voice to be heard’

Due to current controversy surrounding city council elections, some students voice concerns, Statesboro Herald, 10/25/07

Shot in the foot, Statesboro Connect, 10/27/07

Early voting off to fast start in Statesboro, Statesboro Herald, 10/29/07