6 Takeaways From Georgia’s ‘Use It Or Lose It’ Voter Purge Investigation

Georgia gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams, left, and Brian Kemp in Atlanta. The final stretch of the hotly contested Georgia governor’s race is being consumed by a bitter political battle over access to the polls.

John Amis / AP

Tens of thousands of Georgians who haven’t voted in recent elections may show up at the polls on Nov. 6, only to learn they are no longer registered to vote and cannot cast a ballot.

In July 2017, more than half a million people were removed from Georgia’s voter rolls. Of those, 107,000 were purged because they had decided not to vote in previous elections and they failed to respond to mailed notices from the state.

That’s according to an investigation from APM Reports, the podcast and radio show Reveal, and WABE.