An advocacy group run by a key member of Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn’s campaign is currently under investigation for allegedly forging voter-registration applications.
Georgia secretary of state Brian Kemp’s office subpoenaed documents from the New Georgia Project after finding “significant illegal activities” regarding voter applications submitted by the group. The state government has “received numerous complaints about voter applications submitted by the New Georgia Project,” including forged applications and signatures, as well as false information, Kemp told WSB-TV.
The probe thrusts the New Georgia Project and its founder and CEO, Georgia state-house minority leader Stacey Abrams, into the fray of a competitive race between Nunn and her Republican opponent, businessman David Perdue.
Although the New Georgia Project describes itself as “a non-partisan effort to register and civically engage the rising electorate in our state,” Abrams has emphasized efforts to increase voter registration and turnout specifically in the context of Nunn’s bid for the red state’s open Senate seat.
“With Michelle’s race, there will be a concerted effort to register and mobilize and turn out voters,” she told the Roll Call in April.
Abrams’s involvement in the Nunn campaign was mentioned in leaked documents previously revealed by National Review Online. At one point, Abrams was included as a part of the Nunn policy team’s “kitchen cabinet,” which would meet with the team once a week. Later, her name appears on a list of “anchors” to help lead fundraising efforts among women donors.
Abrams herself donated $500 to Nunn’s campaign, and her group Friends of Stacey Abrams donated another $1,000. Nunn herself gave $1,250 to Abrams’s campaign since 2006.
“The fact that an organization led by a well-known Nunn supporter would attempt to illegally register voters is unacceptable and reminiscent of the Obama-political machine’s ACORN scandal,” Perdue’s campaign said in a statement. “There is nothing more fundamental to our democratic process than maintaining the integrity of our elections and any attempt to tamper with them is deplorable.”
Abrams said the investigation “saddens” her and that the New Georgia Project will work with authorities. The Nunn campaign did not respond to calls for comment by National Review Online.
Increasing voter registration and turnout among Democratic supporters is more or less essential to Nunn’s being competitive in Georgia, a state usually favorable to Republicans. Earlier this week, Nunn welcomed first lady Michelle Obama to Atlanta for a voter-registration rally.
Recent polls have shown Perdue with a lead over Nunn, but many analysts still consider the race to be quite close.