ONVR was mentioned by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, at a Press Conference on November 30th. claiming:
“Telling college students in Georgia that they can change their residency of Georgia and then change it back after the election” (was illegal). Let me be very clear again: Voting in Georgia, when you are not a resident of Georgia is a felony. And encouraging college kids to commit felonies with no regard for what it might mean for them is despicable.”
Paul, in conjunction with top, legal counsel in Georgia Election Law, vehemently dispute these claims made by Brad Raffensberger. Georgia’s 30 year-old law that was pioneered and enacted in 1990 clearly allows out-of-state college students to vote either in their home state or in Georgia where they are attending college. Students can not vote in both locations, of course. Paul states, “These 30 year-old laws were enacted to fuel the Georgia economy. If these well-educated, out-of-state, college students decide to accept jobs in Georgia upon graduation our Georgia’s economy is rewarded with employment, housing in the form or rent or purchase, families are started, etc. By getting out-of-state college students to vote in Georgia, their involvement is significantly enhanced in participating both in their local community affairs and statewide issues. This enhanced involvement increases the likelihood that these well-educated graduating students will decide to stay in the Peachtree State.” This article has extensive coverage by The American Prospect.
All 50 states allow this same Georgia choice to out-of-town college students. This conclusion is based on information from the Washington-based non-partisan group, Campus Vote Project, on its website that state-by-state summarizes voter laws in all 50 states. Campus Vote Project has over 20 full time employees and represents over 150 colleges and universities.
Further realize that these out-of-state college students are spending tens of thousands of dollars a year; paying sales, excise and payroll taxes (for those working); leasing or many times buying property; and most spend almost the entire year in Georgia except for a couple weeks on vacation or visiting family.
Setting the Record Straight
To set the record straight, Paul contacted the leading Atlanta TV stations, newspaper and radio stations. On Friday, December 18th, Paul in conjunction with ONVR was the leading story on the evening news for the top three stations: Fox TV5, 11Alive TV and WSB TV2. Paul was quoted in the main Page 1 Cover Article by Atlanta’s leading newspaper, The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Friday, December 18th entitled, “Overstated claims added to confusion”. The leading Atlanta News Radio station, Radio WSB also featured this story during drive time peak times.
Fox TV5 Leading Evening News Story, December 18th, Length: 2 minutes, 15 seconds
11Alive TV Leading Evening News Story, December 18th, Length: 2 minutes, 45 seconds
Atlanta Journal Constitution, Page 1 Top Story, “Overstated claims added to confusion”, December 18th
See This Link for complete article.
Portion of article pertaining to Operation New Voter Registration based on prior day interview Paul had with AJC reporter, Mark Niesse who co-wrote the article:
Investigators are also targeting voter registration groups based on suspicions that they’re illegally encouraging out-of-state or temporary Georgia residents to participate in the runoffs.
Paul Heller, the founder of Operation New Voter Registration, said he was surprised by the investigation into his group. He said the secretary of state’s office had helped guide his organization when he asked questions, but he hasn’t heard from anyone since Raffensperger announced the inquiry.
Heller’s group attempts to register out-of-state university students who are living in Georgia for school, which he says is allowed under state law. He said his group registered hundreds of new voters in the weeks leading up to the state’s Dec. 7 voter registration deadline.
“I have nothing to hide,” Heller said. “The only thing I can think of is we were targeted because we were the only new registration group that showed up at college campuses.”
WSB Radio News Peak Drive-Time 30 second Spots
First 30 Second News Spot (You might need to be on a laptop versus cell phone to play this audio file)
Second 30 Second News Spot (You might need to be on a laptop versus cell phone to play this audio file)