Voter Purges Could Create Another Challenge For Georgia’s Homeless

Crossroads Community Ministries volunteer Ann Kimsey helps Tommy Steward retrieve mail. The Midtown Atlanta nonprofit operates like a post office for people who are homeless. In 2017, Georgia removed nearly 500 voters who were registered to its address for inactivity.

Bita Honarvar / Special to WABE

Georgia removed a half-million voters from its rolls in 2017. The state deemed them inactive because they hadn’t voted in several elections. 

But many had something else in common. Nearly 900 voters were registered to the addresses of Atlanta homeless service providers, according to an analysis by WABE and APM Reports. 

As Georgia prepares to cancel another 120,000 registrations for inactivity this month, advocates say the policy represents one of several challenges the state’s voters can face when they don’t have a home.