First Slice 4-6-16: Allegations of voter suppression in south Georgia
Emory and the Hawks collaborate on a big build and more news
Does it seem weird to you that when a well-experienced black Democratic candidate challenged a 33-year white Republican incumbent of a majority black Georgia county in a Presidential election year, all of a sudden the Secretary of State’s office realized that the black candidate wasn’t a resident of said county? Georgia Democrats are fighting the switcheroo that moved retired Albany police officer James Williams out of the district he voted in for 18 years following a residency challenge by longtime Rep. Gerald Greene.
“Democrats contend that, on March 7, using Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s own residency data, the party qualified Williams to run in District 151. Yet sometime around March 18, the party alleges, the boundary lines of District 151 quietly changed in Kemp’s database, edging Williams just outside of the district. Kemp’s office on Tuesday essentially confirmed this account. An emailed statement from Georgia Secretary of State spokeswoman Candice Broce said that during redistricting, ‘Dougherty County elections officials incorrectly designated Mr. Williams as living in House District 151. When alerted to their error, county officials corrected their mistake.’” Oopsie or voter suppression? A hearing on April 13 in Atlanta will decide.
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