The Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information are disappointed in the decision made by a federal court to allow the enforcement of anti-voter provisions in Georgia’s S.B. 202. The ruling will harm eligible voters in Georgia and our democracy. However, the Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information are not backing down and will continue to defend Georgians from assaults on our democracy.
On April 7, 2021 the Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information filed suit, challenging the provisions in S.B. 202 that restrict the distribution of vote-by-mail applications to voters in Georgia, as violating those organizations’ First Amendment right to distribute vote-by-mail applications as core political speech. These provisions created deliberate barriers to voting, primarily in communities of color, denying voters the freedom to vote. Campaign Legal Center (CLC), Smith Gambrell Russell and Councill, Gunnemann & Chally represented the non-profits in their lawsuit.
In March 2021, the Georgia General Assembly passed S.B. 202, an omnibus bill that made numerous changes to Georgia’s election system that, among other things, prohibited civic engagement groups from effectively distributing vote-by-mail applications. Specifically, S.B. 202 required all such applications to bear a false and misleading disclaimer, banned the personalization of vote-by-mail applications, and imposed administrative burdens that would have made it nearly impossible for third-party organizations to distribute vote-by-mail applications to voters.
This is an issue that will deeply impact voting-eligible Georgians. Many Georgia voters rely on third party groups to provide them with prefilled and preprinted absentee ballot applications that they can easily review and submit to their county elections official without need for a broadband internet connection or access to a printer or scanner at home. This was particularly true during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but remains the case for voters in rural areas, young voters and voters of color who often disproportionately lack the means or opportunity to obtain and prepare absentee ballot applications on their own.
To be clear, the fight to protect Georgia voters is not over. We are reviewing the ruling and assessing our legal options. No matter what, we will continue to fight for the rights of all eligible voters in Georgia.
“This decision is not what we had hoped for. The provisions in S.B. 202 are dangerous and will make it more difficult for Georgians to vote, especially those in the historically underrepresented communities that we serve – people of color, young people and unmarried women,” said Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Voter Participation Center (VPC) and Center for Voter Information (CVI). “These provisions block important work that has proven time and time again to help the voters of Georgia. In the context of increasing government overreach into our elections, the Court’s decision to limit advocacy at the expense of the right to free speech is deeply concerning. We will continue to fight to protect programs that we know help eligible Georgia voters. We reject this assault on democracy and will keep working to ensure every eligible American can make their voice heard.”
As a result of this lawsuit, the Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information were able to secure a change to the disclaimer language that nonpartisan civic engagement organizations must include on vote-by-mail applications. The disclaimer language initially required by the legislature in S.B. 202 amounted to a scare tactic that would have discouraged voters from using VPC’s easy, straightforward vote-by-mail application. The new language, updated during the 2023 state legislative session, makes the source of the application clear to voters without discouraging them from using it–providing a win for voters despite today’s disappointing decision.
The Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information are non-profit, non-partisan organizations dedicated to increasing civic engagement and closing voter registration and turnout gaps. Since 2003, VPC and CVI have helped register millions of voters—particularly among historically underrepresented communities—and continue to run the nation’s largest mail-based and digital voter engagement programs.